What American retirees dream about and regret

The best retirement plans are the ones that help you make your dreams come true. For the middle class, the key is to dream big but stay within the realistic boundaries of your budget. The good news: Research shows that for most middle-income earners, saving keeps your dreams in line with reality, writes Go Banking Rates.

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The Transamerica Center for Retirement Research is a division of the Transamerica Institute, a private, nonprofit foundation dedicated to research and public education about retirement security.

He recently released his 24th annual survey, “Retirement Prospects for America’s Middle Class,” and his findings show that most middle-income earners have high but realistic expectations for their golden years.

On the subject: Pension in the USA: a complete guide on how to secure a decent old age in America

Who is in the middle class?

The study defined the middle class as households with annual incomes between $50 and $000, which its authors said represents 199 percent of American adults.

The study divided this broad group into two smaller, nearly evenly split segments: those with household incomes between $50 and $000 (99%) and those with household incomes between $999 and $28 (100%).

The middle class has slightly more men than women (51% and 48%, respectively). Millennials make up the largest share (30%), followed by Baby Boomers (28%), Gen X (26%), Gen Z (13%), and the Silent Generation (4%).

Researchers at Transamerica surveyed more than 10 middle-class Americans about their retirement dreams, giving each person the opportunity to provide multiple answers. Here are the top five.

1. The thirst for travel

67% of respondents hope to do what they couldn't afford while working, saving money and raising a family: travel.

People with higher incomes are more likely to dream of traveling after retirement than lower income families (71% and 63%, respectively).

2. Communication with loved ones

Of those surveyed, 58% hope to spend more time with family and friends.

Here again, families with higher incomes (60%) outperform families with lower incomes (57%).

3. Hobby

When you work eight to ten hours a day, you don’t have much free time to pursue your favorite hobbies. That’s why more than half of the survey respondents — 51% — dream of pursuing their hobby in retirement.

Again, households earning six figures in income were more likely than their lower-middle-class counterparts to share this aspiration (55% vs. 48%).

4. Work for pleasure

23% of respondents said they hope to work for fun, on a volunteer basis.

Wealthier middle-class people are more likely to express this desire than those with five-figure household incomes (25% vs. 22%).

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5. Caring for grandchildren

Rounding out the top five is the dream of spending time with grandchildren. One in five respondents said they hope to spend their post-career years caring for grandchildren. Once again, wealthier middle-class people outpace the less affluent (22% vs. 19%).

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