Products October 17, 2016

Video Series Helps Women With Retirement and Financial Security

T. Rowe Price has released a seven-part, documentary-style video series created to help women navigate the unique challenges they face when saving for retirement.
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In recognition of National Retirement Security Week, T. Rowe Price released “Women on Retirement: Stories to Empower,” a seven-part, documentary-style video series created to help women navigate the unique challenges they face when saving for retirement.

Women often experience competing priorities and barriers when it comes to their financial future, including lower wages, a longer life expectancy, and fewer years in the workforce compared to their male counterparts, T. Rowe Price notes.

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T. Rowe Price’s 2015 Retirement Spending and Saving study found that Millennial women had significantly less money saved in their 401(k)s―a median account balance of $10,600 compared to $22,200 for Millennial men. Additionally, the study found that women were contributing less of their salaries to their 401(k)s―a median of 5%, compared to 7% for men.

T. Rowe Price’s 2016 Parents, Kids & Money study asked parents how knowledgeable they felt about money and investing. Women were significantly less likely to say they felt knowledgeable about money (67% compared to 78% of men). The difference was even more extreme when women were asked about investing, with only 35% of women saying they felt knowledgeable, versus 62% of men.

Through seven short videos, 23 women share their real-life experiences and challenges as well as advice about how women can take control of their finances. Each video is tailored to a specific topic or issue often faced by women, including investing, retirement saving advice for Millennials and single women, and how to balance finances when faced with conflicting priorities.

Aimee DeCamillo, head of T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services, Inc., says: “National Retirement Security Week is an opportunity for companies to evaluate how well they are preparing their employees for retirement. Women in particular have unique challenges that employers can address through plan design and education.”

The video series may be found here.

Client Service October 17, 2016

The DC Income Challenge is Just Arriving

“From our perspective, the ultimate outcome in retirement is income,” says Jamie Ohl, president, Retirement Plan Services, Lincoln Financial Group. 
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Data from the Lincoln Financial Group American Consumer Study shows that individuals increasingly understand they are going to be responsible for their own retirement security.

While awareness of retirement challenges is high, according to the study, still more than a third of Americans (36%) say they wish they were putting more money into their retirement savings plans. More than half are prioritizing paying off short-term debt over saving for retirement. This is especially prevalent among Millennials, the survey finds, only 56% of whom are contributing to a retirement savings plan.

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Researchers call it troubling that only about half of Millennials are taking advantage of the power of compound interest in building a secure financial future. Like the older generations, many Millennials anticipate a significant portion of their retirement income to come from Social Security, despite persistent uncertainties about the program’s long-term fiscal future.

Beyond a building focus on retirement income and how it will be sourced, the study also shows that savers want access to both online tools and face-to-face discussions with advisers and financial educators. Among those surveyed, 68% suggest access to face-to-face discussions remains highly important, while 73% feel online tools are also important when they’re communicating with a company that offers retirement products.

“There is a lot of focus on technology today, and it is important,” Ohl said. “But as the results of the study showed, technology alone isn’t enough. It’s the combination of technology and personalized service that will truly drive positive outcomes.”

The research concludes that establishing a focus on retirement income early in one’s working life will be essential for a financially healthy retirement in a world without widespread access to pensions.

Alongside the survey data, Lincoln Financial Group published a participant-centric video series to teach the fundamentals of investing and to “encourage employees to take actions today that can help them meet their retirement goals tomorrow.”

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