Coloradans Are Uncertain About Their Retirement and Financial Futures
Financial Planning
Key Takeaways
- Coloradans 65 and older cite taxes, inflation, health care costs, and failing Social Security as their top financial concerns.
- The cost of living crisis is weighing heavily on even the most prepared retirees, or soon-to-be retirees.
The cost-of-living in Colorado is overall 5% - 7% higher than the national average; the cost of housing alone is 21% higher than the national average, according to RentCafe.com. That said, "the story is the same across the country. One in five Americans say they don't think they will ever be able to retire," says Alayna Alvarez and Erica Pandey at Axios Denver.
The majority of folks that are of retirement age (16% of the state's population), do not cite financial literacy to be the primary barrier/ reason for the uncertainty surrounding their retirement's financial futures- instead they cite healthcare, taxes, and ultimately (the bane of all of our existences) inflation.
Then you look at the state's "solution", implementing a state-sponsored IRA program that imposes non-compliance fees, where only 27% of required employers have registered...
A Lakewood resident aptly stated, "the inherent level of anxiety built into the 401(k) retirement model is an unrecognized mental health issue among my generation." We understand his frustration viscerally, but also understand that we must use the best tools at our disposal- for the MAJORITY of business owners, this means offering your employees a qualified retirement plan like a traditional 401(k), or a PEP 401(k).
There is now an abundance of financial planning options online, and yet many Coloradans still don't have a trusted financial advisor. Financial understanding, at its core, is emotional and requires an advanced level of situational understanding, and comradery; this especially was, and will hopefully remain, a strength of Coloradans.
Note: "the state saw the 10th highest net loss of people 60 and older in 2021, per a 2023 SmartAsset report. More than 5,200 retirees left the state that year."
As always, the best advice we can give to our small business community, is to work with other small businesses. If you don't know a financial advisor give us a call, or our investment management partners Fi401k Advisors, LLC, to get your questions answered by a real and informed person. Or simply join us at our next informational session to decide the best course of action for your business: https://zoom.us/webinar/regist...
To read the Axios article in full: https://www.axios.com/local/de...