70% of U.S. employees concerned about retirement savings: survey
The majority (70 per cent) of U.S. employees said their top financial concern is saving enough money for retirement, according to a new survey by StanCorp Financial Group Inc.
The survey, which polled 1,000 full-time U.S. employees between the ages of 21 and 69, also found 57 per cent said they’re also concerned about monthly expenses, medical expenses (52 per cent) and financial support if they became disabled (52 per cent).
“The majority of employees are most concerned with money for retirement,” noted the report. “It’s more important than ever that [employers] communicate with them about how impactful engaging with their retirement plan can be.”
Read: Canadians worry about outliving retirement savings: surveys
Some 89 per cent of survey respondents said they participate in their employer-sponsored retirement savings plan and 62 per cent said they consider retirement planning a high priority. Almost half (48 per cent) said they’d be interested in auto-enrolment or automatic contribution increases in their workplace plan.
However, only a third of employees said they’re confident with their current retirement plan. The other two-thirds said they don’t feel as good about their retirement plans as they wish they did.
About four in 10 (39 per cent) survey respondents respondents said they’re comfortable determining how much they need to be saving, while 43 per cent said they don’t feel comfortable selecting investment options or contribution amounts for their retirement savings vehicle.
Read: How employers are supporting employees’ financial literacy
According to the survey, one of the reasons for limited engagement in retirement planning is a lack of confidence. A third of employees said they’d never used a retirement savings calculator, viewed any retirement planning education materials or rebalanced their investment portfolio. Nearly a quarter (22 per cent) said they’ve never increased the amount they contribute.
However, survey respondents expressed interest in learning more about their retirement savings plan. To receive information, 60 per cent said they’d like to attend an enrolment meeting, followed by downloadable material from a website (59 per cent) and emailed communications (51 per cent).
About three-quarters (77 per cent) said they’d most value information that helped them determine their retirement income needs. This was followed by information on basic investing, cited by 63 per cent of respondents, and budgeting, according to 60 per cent. More than half (53 per cent) of employees said they’re interested in receiving retirement tips, tools and other information that could help them plan for the future, while 63 per cent said they want to receive information by email.
Read: Majority of Canadians want financial education in the workplace: survey