48% of Americans saving for retirement are pretty sure they have no idea what they're doing Business Insider By Myles Udland

The US has a retirement problem.
In the Federal Reserve's 2015 report on US household economic well-being, about half of respondents who said they were working towards saving for retirement were less than confident they were making good investment choices.
According to the Fed, 48% of respondents who had either a defined contribution plan or a self-directed retirement plan were either "not confident" or just "slightly confident" in their ability to make the right investment decisions in these accounts.

These plans are basically standard 401(k) plans you manage alone or similar accounts in which your employer matches a certain amount of what you set aside but promises no future benefit; 48% of non-retirees with savings have these kinds of accounts.

Pensions, in contrast, are "defined benefit" plans, meaning your contributions promise certain benefits down the road; just 25% of non-retirees saving for retirement possess these plans. 

So just barely over half of those saving for retirement on their own think they know what they're doing. Though as we've written: if you're trying to beat the market on your own — which is not necessarily what these people are doing, just a possibility! — you will lose.

This is a bit discouraging.


Culled from Business Insider