By Jonathan Stempel

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Nearly nine out of 10 Americans were worried about saving enough for retirement even before President Bush (news - web sites) began his recent campaign to change Social Security (news - web sites), according to a newly released study.

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Fifty-seven percent admitted they often or sometimes felt worried about how well prepared they will be for retirement, and 32 percent said they worried occasionally, according to a survey released Tuesday by Wachovia Corp., the No. 4 U.S. bank.

Only 11 percent expressed no such concerns. And half of those polled worried about making mistakes with their retirement investments.

The survey of 2,100 consumers with household income or investments exceeding $75,000 was conducted last fall, before Bush won reelection and began actively promoting his plan to change the 70-year-old Social Security system. A key element would have younger workers shift some payroll taxes into private stock and bond accounts.

Bush said changes are needed to stop Social Security, which provides benefits to 45 million Americans, from going bankrupt by 2042, as people live longer and retirees become eligible for more benefits. Democrats say Bush is exaggerating the problem.

"Investors do make decisions often based on their emotions," said Bob Reid, executive vice president of retirement strategy at Wachovia, in an interview. "That's not necessarily bad, but to the degree consumers act or don't act based on worry or fear, they may suffer paralysis. And there is a huge level of uncertainty, worry and fear."

In the survey, 36 percent said they felt particularly intimidated, fearful and helpless about saving for retirement and admitted they weren't saving enough. Another 11 percent were similarly worried but felt they were on the right track.

Twenty-six percent said they were relatively unprepared and in a sense appeared "overconfident" about retirement savings, while the remaining 27 percent generally felt comfortable and in fact thought they were on the right track.

Women were more concerned about retirement than men, and people who were worried were more likely to consider themselves inexperienced investors.

People with children living at home were more likely to be saving too little. Some who weren't saving enough said they preferred to enjoy life now rather than save for the future.

Though just 16 percent were confident Social Security would be there when they retire, 50 percent said they didn't want to put retirement principal at risk -- such as by investing in stocks.

A Newsweek poll last week said 65 percent of Americans believe Social Security faces a crisis, but those polled were deeply divided over what to do about it.

The Wachovia survey was conducted by Richard Day Research Inc. of Evanston, Illinois. Results were based on online interviews with consumers aged 35 to 64, with an average age of 50, split evenly between men and women. The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Wachovia is based in Charlotte, North Carolina.

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