Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

There is a persistent difference where households who are guessing tend to overestimate required savings at lower income levels and underestimate required savings at higher income levels. The difference could be due to a variety of factors, but one potential culprit is the progressive nature of Social Security retirement benefits, which replace a higher portion of wages at lower income levels. This effect becomes clearer in the following chart, which compares the ratio of the median divided by the income level, for different income levels. Source: EBRI 2024 RCS, author’s calculations The estimated and guessing trendlines cross at about the $100,000 total household income level. This suggests that lower-income households who are guessing about required retirement savings could be oversaving and those with higher incomes could be undersaving. The following chart looks at the behaviors taken among workers who attempted to estimate required savings. Source: EBRI 2024 RCS, author’s calculations. Trying to figure out required savings had a number of notable positive benefits, in particular saving more for retirement, which 52% of respondents noted doing. Additionally, 29% of respondents noted researching other ways to save, 24% of respondents noted paying down debt, and 22% of respondents noted enrolling in their...

Overall, 52% of respondents say they’ve had an emergency fund for more than two years, while 19% have had a fund open for between one and two years. Some 6% started saving for emergencies within the past three months, leaving 23% who started between four and 11 months ago. Among the 37% of respondents who don’t have an emergency fund, 86% said that they don’t have extra money to set aside. “Although this reflects their financial reality and feelings of financial instability, there’s an opportunity for employers to provide education on the basics of emergency funds,” the report suggests. “For example, 12% of employees don’t know how to create an emergency fund, and 4% don’t think they need one.” Fully 54% of respondents say they have previously tapped their retirement account for emergency financial needs — even though 63% reported that they have emergency savings. “This tells us that workers’ current emergency savings might not be sufficient, or that they may be unaware of the consequences of early retirement account withdrawals,” the report warns. “We always recommend having at least six months of expenses saved for a solid financial safety net. That may not be possible for everyone, but saving...

“Charlie was the principal architect of a complex strategic transformation that has positioned Prudential to be a nimble, dynamic and high-growth company for years to come,” Todman said. Andrew Sullivan Sullivan has a bachelor’s degree from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served for five years as a lieutenant in the Navy, then worked for about a year as a management consultant, before entering the insurance industry as an executive at two health insurers, Cigna and CareFirst. When he started at Prudential, he was an executive in its group insurance business. He rose up the ranks at the benefits businesses, then took over as head of the U.S. businesses in 2019. He became head of the international businesses, which operate in 13 countries outside the United States, in January 2023. He also has been the executive in charge of PGIM, Prudential’s asset management business. Other Executives Caroline Feeney, who has been head of Prudential’s U.S. businesses since 2021, will become global head of insurance and retirement at the end of March. Feeney and Jacques Chappuis, the incoming head of PGIM, will both report to Sullivan once he becomes CEO, Prudential said. Compensation Annual target total compensation for Sullivan will be $18.8...