NCAA Hoops Fans "Score" for Retirement Savings Planning

A Lincoln Retirement Institute news release about its new survey reported that 87% of respondents said they will spend up to five hours in March pondering and planning for their retirement savings needs. The release said 72% of respondents plan to devote less than 60 minutes to that endeavor.

Many respondents were proud of their retirement plan know-how. Twice as many people surveyed gave themselves an “A+” for their in-depth knowledge of their 401(k) plans and investment choices versus their knowledge of NCAA tournament player statistics and college team rankings. Nearly three out of five gave themselves a passing grade for their knowledge of their 401(k) or retirement plans. Men were almost twice as likely as women to give themselves top marks (“A” or “B”) for 401(k) knowledge, including investment allocations and stock options.

Not surprisingly, surveyed men are planning to dedicate more time to their March Madness bracket picks than surveyed women. Age also apparently makes a difference in outlook about retirement planning versus the basketball tournament. Survey respondents in the 18 to 24 age group anticipate spending the same amount of time thinking about planning and saving for retirement as selecting their tournament picks.

Among those ages 45 to 54, nearly three times as many people estimate they will spend significantly more time, up to 10 hours, thinking about their retirement planning efforts compared to engaging in NCAA tournament research.

The survey was conducted on behalf of the Lincoln Retirement Institute by Zoomerang, an independent research firm. An online survey of 392 U.S. adults ages 18-54 of all income levels was conducted March 7 to 12, 2008.