High-end worries

Folks with some money are not all that different from everyone else when it comes to concerns about retirement and the economy. Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management found that the top concern among affluent L.A. retirees (those with investable assets of 250K) is rising health care costs, followed by having enough savings to last the rest of their lives. If they had to do it all over again, 43 percent of the L.A. sample said they would have focused more on life goals and less on the numbers. The Merrill Lynch survey is laced with not-so-subtle marketing nudges (30 percent just so happened to have regretted not working with a financial advisor earlier on) and some of the results are pretty obvious. Still, there are a few interesting nuggets, such as lifestyle changes among retired and working folks made in the last 12 months.

• Cutting energy costs (51%)
• Spending less on personal luxuries (43%)
• Vacationing less (35%)
• Being more aware of day-to-day/short-term cash flow (29%)
• Giving less to charities than in previous years (18%)

About 20 percent of local non-retired respondents expect to retire later than originally planned.