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Sponsors Feel Sense of Responsibility Only 43% of corporate retirement plan sponsors are confident that their workers are saving enough now to get the monthly income they want in retirement. About 67% of workers, on the other hand, are confident they are saving enough. Four in 10 sponsors think the greatest financial challenge their employees will face is “not having enough money to last through retirement.”Sponsors take their responsibility seriously—even more than workers expect. About two-thirds of sponsors strongly agree an employer should educate employees on the realities of longevity in retirement, compared with just 25% of workers. Similarly, four in 10 sponsors agree they should warn employees if they are not saving enough money for retirement, but just 22% of workers strongly agree. Workers and sponsors do agree on the importance of secure income-generating options in their workplace retirement plan. Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) sponsors agree (and 20% agree a “great deal”) that their participants would benefit from an in-plan guaranteed solution, and 89% of workers agree on the importance of these income options. Despite these numbers, just 11% of DC plan sponsors say they offer an in-plan guaranteed income solution, and of the companies not offering this solution, just 19% say they will likely add it to their plan in the next 12 months. “As traditional pensions wane, American retirees face a growing retirement income gap, and there is growing belief among participants and sponsors alike that DC retirement plans can—and should—help fill the gap,” Castille said. The poll of 118 plan sponsors was conducted on the Internet during March 2012 by Boston Research Group on behalf of BlackRock's U.S. Defined Contribution business. The plan sponsor sample represents major DC plans with more than $351 billion in plan assets and more than 3.4 million plan participants. BlackRock also released the findings of two other interlinked polls of 1,002 workers and 1,035 retirees. A copy of those findings can be found at www.BlackRock.com/RetirementSurvey.
Sponsors Feel Sense of Responsibility
Only 43% of corporate retirement plan sponsors are confident that their workers are saving enough now to get the monthly income they want in retirement. About 67% of workers, on the other hand, are confident they are saving enough. Four in 10 sponsors think the greatest financial challenge their employees will face is “not having enough money to last through retirement.”
Sponsors take their responsibility seriously—even more than workers expect. About two-thirds of sponsors strongly agree an employer should educate employees on the realities of longevity in retirement, compared with just 25% of workers. Similarly, four in 10 sponsors agree they should warn employees if they are not saving enough money for retirement, but just 22% of workers strongly agree.
Workers and sponsors do agree on the importance of secure income-generating options in their workplace retirement plan. Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) sponsors agree (and 20% agree a “great deal”) that their participants would benefit from an in-plan guaranteed solution, and 89% of workers agree on the importance of these income options.
Despite these numbers, just 11% of DC plan sponsors say they offer an in-plan guaranteed income solution, and of the companies not offering this solution, just 19% say they will likely add it to their plan in the next 12 months.
“As traditional pensions wane, American retirees face a growing retirement income gap, and there is growing belief among participants and sponsors alike that DC retirement plans can—and should—help fill the gap,” Castille said.
The poll of 118 plan sponsors was conducted on the Internet during March 2012 by Boston Research Group on behalf of BlackRock's U.S. Defined Contribution business. The plan sponsor sample represents major DC plans with more than $351 billion in plan assets and more than 3.4 million plan participants.
BlackRock also released the findings of two other interlinked polls of 1,002 workers and 1,035 retirees. A copy of those findings can be found at www.BlackRock.com/RetirementSurvey.
Corie Russelleditors@plansponsor.com