Fewer than half of American workers said they had put pencil to paper, trying to calculate how much they need to save for retirement, a new study found.

A growing number of workers plan to delay their retirement, hoping to recover from investment losses and either to obtain or pay for health insurance, according to the 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey, released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute.

Daniel J. Houston

Most importantly, the annual study found that Americans’ confidence in their ability to retire is “stabilizing” after two years in which public confidence in having a secure retirement fund hit all-time lows.

“Americans are starting to feel more optimistic about their financial futures and now is the time to back that up with action,” said Daniel J. Houston, president of retirement, insurance and financial services at The Principal, one of 30 companies that underwrote the study. “Get started by figuring out how much may be needed for retirement and create a plan to get there. Keep spending in check and make savings a priority.”

Preparations for retirement seem to be getting worse, as a growing percentage of workers report they have virtually no savings and investments, according to the study. More than half of workers say they have less than $25,000 in total savings and investments, excluding their homes.

Worse yet, many workers continue to be unaware of how much they need to save for retirement. Just 46% say either they or their spouse have tried to calculate the money they will need to retire comfortably. While this number is comparable to other years, it remains low in comparison to the 56% who reported not attempting the calculations in 2000, the authors said in the survey results.

About 20% perform their own calculations, while 18% ask for the assistance of a financial service professional, researchers found.

People who earned more, were better educated and had more financial assets were correspondingly more likely to have performed the calculations.

Married workers (compared with unmarried workers), those age 35 and older (compared with those age 25–34), retirement savers (compared with nonsavers), and participants in a defined contribution plan (compared with nonparticipants) reported making the calculations, but often, researchers said, it was a guess.