All about business

The percentage of workers with virtually no savings is growing, and the outlook for a financially stable retirement is dismal, according to a report released last week.

In 2010, 27 percent of workers have less than $1,000 stashed away, compared with 20 percent in 2009, according to the annual Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Of the workers with some form of savings, 54 percent said they had less than $25,000. The same percentage said they needed at least $500,000 for retirement. But just 46 percent have calculated how much they need in retirement.

The nonprofit institute, along with market research firm Mathew Greenwald and Associates, surveyed 1,153 U.S. workers and retirees ages 25 and up in January.

Fewer workers have saved at all — 69 percent, compared with 75 percent in 2009 — and even fewer said they were currently doing so. Just 16 percent of workers said they were very confident in their ability to save enough — the second-lowest level in the survey’s 20-year history.

But 32 percent of workers said they were very confident in their ability to invest their savings, up from 24 percent in 2009. More than half said they were somewhat confident. And with the struggling economy, unstable job market and roller-coaster stock market, 24 percent of workers said they had postponed their retirement age, up from the 14 percent in 2009. A third of workers now anticipate retiring after they turn 65.

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