RJ and Makay

Nearly half of people between the ages of 45 and 65 say they don’t feel confident in their retirement planning, according to a poll by the Associated Press and LifeGoesStrong.com, a lifestyle website for Baby Boomers. Pre-retirees will therefore be counting heavily on Social Security to fund their retirement, the poll also shows.

Of the pre-retirees polled, 44% didn't feel confident about having enough money to live comfortably in retirement. When asked which income sources will be very or extremely important for them in retirement, 65% named Social Security. Here's how other key income sources ranked:

To help ensure the financial security of their citizens in old age, the United States and other developed countries should raise the age at which people can begin collecting government retirement benefits like Social Security. Otherwise, there could be severe consequences for the elderly, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warns.

More fiscally and socially responsible measures are needed to avoid a resurgence of old-age poverty in the future, explains OECD secretary general Angel Gurria. “This risk is heightened by growing earnings inequality in many countries, which will feed through into greater inequality in retirement," he adds.

Corporations have been doing it for many years to save money, and now many states are seeking to follow suit. The strategy: switch employee retirement plans from the more costly traditional defined benefit (DB) type to a potentially cheaper defined contribution (DC) plan.

In fact, there's currently a push for DC plans in 10 states — Arizona, California, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Some of these states are combining efforts to introduce DC plans or DC/DB hybrids with attempts to eliminate or limit collective bargaining rights by unions.