Things are looking up for employer-based retirement plans.
Despite the staggering loss of savings many experienced as a result of the downturn, Americans still believe the current retirement savings system still works.
In fact, a recent ING survey showed that employees participating in a workplace retirement plan felt more informed, confident and active when it came to their savings than ever before.
Nearly 84% who have a workplace retirement plan say they’re now taking an active role in managing their retirement savings and investments.
However, workers are saying their employers could be doing even more to help prepare them for life after work.
Some ways Americans said they’d like their employers to help them:
- Offer a more diverse range of investment options (88%)
- Show how individual employees’ savings balances would convert into monthly income should they retire today (84%)
- Provide more education and tools to help them save (83%), and
- Incorporate strategies that automatically bump up employee savings (75%).
Another interesting nugget from the study: 74% of American workers don’t think retirees should be on the government dole. They agreed — and almost half (49%) adamantly so — that saving for retirement is an individual’s responsibility, not the feds’.
