Business

NYC: no plan to retire

Many aging Big Apple baby boomers must expect to hit the lottery or have a great day at the track.

Otherwise they are just doing a lousy job of preparing for retirement compared with those living in most other big American cities, a recent survey reports.

According to financial advisory firm Ameriprise Financial, New York City ranked 26th out of 30 major metropolitan areas in retirement preparedness.

Only “62 percent [of New Yorkers] say they’ve made financial preparations for retirement — significantly lower than the national average (70 percent) and fewer than in 2011 (73 percent) and 2010 (76 percent),” according to the annual survey.

Not only that, Ameriprise says in its report, the problem is getting worse.

Those New Yorkers who have set aside funds for retirement “have declined dramatically in just one year (58 percent vs. 70 percent), as have the number who report contributing to an employer-sponsored retirement (40 percent vs. 51 percent),” according to the survey.

The number of Big Apple residents who are also building up personal savings is likewise on the decline, 42 percent vs. 55 percent, Ameriprise said.

“I’m not surprised at those numbers. Lots of people are having problems saving for retirement,” said John Henry Low, an adviser with his own firm in Pine Plains, NY.

The survey included about 10,000 adults nationwide and about 300 from the New York City metro area. Those surveyed were between the ages of 40 and 75.

Ameriprise said New Yorkers are less concerned about retirement than the rest of the country. Only 39 percent of those in our metro area say they’re worried about outliving their savings, while 47 percent of those in the rest of the country are.

“They’re either ignoring the problem or they are very overconfident,” said Anthony Pio Costa, an Ameriprise financial planner in Fairfield, NJ.

Pio Costa said part of the problem is unique to the region: People just don’t have enough money to save for retirement.

“The cost of living is very high here,” Pio Costa notes.

Nevertheless, Low says, Gothamites are just going to have to bite the bullet.

“There are no shortcuts,” he says. “People are simply going to have to save more.”

In addition, Low says, New Yorkers “should consider changing their lifestyles. Some are also going to have to work longer and then think about moving to another region.”