Retirees Are Less Confident About Having Enough to Live On

The economy is strong and stocks are near record levels. But a long-running survey shows retirees' confidence in having enough money to cover basic living expenses has dropped over the past year, due in part to concerns about medical expenses, reports the Wall Street Journal . Released Tuesday by the non-profit Employee Benefit Research Institute, the survey shows that 80 percent of polled retirees are optimistic about their ability to afford basic expenses, down from 85 percent last year. Driving the declines are concerns among retirees about rising medical and long-term-care expenses and the uncertain finances of Social Security and Medicare. Those programs may be forced to cut benefits for future retirees due to their projected insolvency in coming decades.