Old Habits Die Hard: Surveyed investors have made no adjustments to their visions of a comfortable retirement¦

78% of investors expect their standard of living in retirement to be the same or better than it is now

80% believe they have planned for the future and are confident they will have a secure retirement

¦and once again are depending on strong stock returns to fund these retirement dreams

Nearly half of investors (48%) continue to rely on equities as the foundation of their retirement portfolios

74% say it is likely the stock market "will bounce back and restore" any portfolio losses

Overall, respondents believe a 9% annual mean return is a reasonable expectation for retirement planning

Investors counting on a "healthy" retirement

77% of all respondents expect to have "better than average health" throughout retirement

61% have never accounted for health care costs in their retirement planning

Investors admit they don't know enough and are looking to advisors for help

72% want to know more about generating sustainable retirement income

More than half (55%) agree that it's more important than ever to work with a financial advisor

Despite the most tumultuous year for investors since the Great Depression, Americans appear unfazed and continue to have high hopes for retirement, according to the results of research released here today by Allianz Global Investors, a leading global investment management firm. But they may need a more realistic approach to retirement planning and investing if their expectations are to be met.

A key finding of the survey is that as stocks have regained their vigor, so has typical American optimism. Although investors say they lost an average 30% of their retirement savings at the bottom, they are nonetheless overwhelmingly positive about the outlook for their retirements. A large majority (71%) of those surveyed believe the situation will turn around and they will have a great retirement. And nearly 80% say they are at least somewhat confident they'll have the money they need when they want to retire. Furthermore, more than 60% believe that the market dislocation is a "temporary downturn and things will eventually go back to normal." This refusal to learn from the experience may lead to problems down the line.

"Despite this refreshing optimism, tremendous damage has been done and Americans now have a lot less accumulated for retirement than they did even a few short years ago," said Brian Gaffney, CEO of Allianz Global Investors Distributors. "Our survey reveals a need for all of us to honestly reassess our vision of retirement and to develop realistic and sustainable retirement savings models. It's important that we take to heart the lessons learned during this financial crisis and make small changes now to improve our likelihood for a secure retirement in the future."

The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive within the United States between July 27 and August 10, 2009, among a nationwide cross section of 1,013 pre-retired household financial decision makers aged 30 or older with at least $250,000 in investable assets. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the U.S. adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

One Year Later: Lesson (Not) Learned #1 -- Stock Market Turnaround to Fund My Retirement Dreams

Despite their "up-close" encounters with market volatility, investors remain confident that the equity markets will soon get back to normal, providing them with the money they need to retire as planned -- and this confidence may be keeping them from taking necessary steps to meet their goals.

Nearly half of all investors surveyed (48%) are relying on stocks as the foundation of their retirement portfolios, and approximately four in ten Baby Boomers (43%) and mature Americans (40%) who are quickly approaching retirement say that the stock market is the foundation of their portfolios.