Wealthy in L.A. plan to save a lot for retirement, but haven’t yet

Wealthy people in Los Angeles plan to save more money for retirement than the national average, while women are stowing away more than men, according to a new survey.

L.A. residents with $50,000 to $250,000 in household investable assets plan to save an average of $909,400 for retirement, more than the $736,200 national average, according to Merrill Edge, a consumer banking unit of Bank of America Corp.

Women are outpacing men, according to the report. They plan to squirrel away a bit more than $1 million versus $814,000 for men.

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However, as with Americans of all income levels, they’ve put away only a fraction of that amount. The average L.A. resident has saved only $150,300, according to the report.

And they don’t have much time left to meet those lofty financial goals: The average L.A. poll respondent is 54 years old.

Perhaps not surprising, nearly two-thirds of L.A. residents — 64% — intend to retire later than anticipated. That’s an 18 percentage-point jump from Merrill’s last report six months ago.

In an apparent sign of growing retirement awareness, L.A. residents anticipate saving $377,400 more than they did six months ago.

As for college savings, the average wealthy Angeleno has saved, or plans to save, $62,000. However, one in three Los Angeles parents has saved nothing for their child’s education, according to the report.

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Follow Walter Hamilton on Twitter @LATwalter