Most Seniors Flunked a New Retirement Quiz. Could You Do Better?

Anyone who wonders if those who submit or are going to retire is even creating a viable plan for retirement income, he responded last week when the American College of Financial Services unveiled the results of its literacy contest Of retirement income. It was great: almost 75% of the 1244 adults aged 60 and 75 who participated in the online survey for the test have a large F (a score of 60% or less), while less than 6% received an a (91% or more) or B (81% to 90%).

No wonder on the screen less impressive. On the one hand, other evidence and research, including a Fidelity study, which I said in an earlier column, revealed rather disconcerting gaps in knowledge of people's retirement planning. And if that's the case, try the American College difficult than others I've seen, it consists of 38 multiple-choice questions in almost every aspect of managing your retirement finances.

So I have no reason to doubt Jamie Hopkins, co-director of the New York Life Center at the American College of Retirement Income, when he calls it "the most comprehensive retirement literacy questionnaire."

For the most part, I thought that the topics dealt very well with the major issues that would take care of planning for a safe retirement. They include:

1 the maximum amount you can safely withdraw your savings if you want it to last 30 years
2 the appropriate age to claim social security if you are going to live a long life
3 that expenses are covered by medical insurance and long-term care insurance
4 and the possibility that, at some point in life, you may need help with the activities of daily living.

That being said, some questions also appeared to me "in baseball", which requires a level of technical knowledge, even well-informed people are not likely to possess. For example, the survey asks you to identify a current immediate annuity payment rate for a 65 year old man, while answering another question that requires being familiar with the nuances of guaranteed retirement age variable retirement benefits.

I also wondered if some of the questions, such as those relating to price / benefit shares, mandatory ratings and types of stocks that generate the highest long-term returns, have even belonged to a retirement income questionnaire .

But when I expressed these concerns in Hopkins, I had reasonable explanations. He agreed that pension issues were difficult. In fact, less than 20% of respondents responded correctly. However, they said that they were included because of a large number of people who answered the purchase of the age group or have already purchased annuities, then they must understand how they work and have an idea of what they cost.

That's enough. Clearly there are many things that people do not understand when it comes to rents, so I recommend asking these three key questions before buying one.

On investment issues, he explained that it not only gave rise to the important question of the possible role of different types of investments in a retirement portfolio; They are also a good barometer of general financial knowledge of examiners and provide an overview of the relationship between financial education and retirement planning.

More RealDealRetirement.com: How to know if you are ready to retire

And in fact, there is evidence that pensioners and retirees who did well on the questionnaire are more likely to plan better and have more confidence in their ability to manage their finances. For example, people who received a passing score on the test were 46% more likely than those who did not have a strategy to cope with the cost of long-term care and 36% more likely to think that 'being able to manage Their investments throughout retirement.

But they are not based solely on my impressions of the test. I recommend you take it yourself, which you can do by clicking here. Even if you think you have everything that you retired, I suggest you try anyway.

After all, 61% of those who gave felt that they had a high level of retirement income in the knowledge, but two-thirds of this group were finally crushed.

Give a kick out. Who knows, maybe to narrow down the chances and end up with a passing grade, or even join the small minority (less than 1%) who scored an A. And if you understand that