Retirement Readiness Still Dogs Employers

Employers continue to express concern about their staffers’ finances, with retirement readiness the top measure. According to the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute, 80% of employers in its 2015 401(k) Plan Sponsor Survey said an important success measure of their company’s retirement benefit is employee retirement readiness.

Nearly all employers (96%) in their role as retirement plan sponsors measure employee retirement readiness. More than half use an evaluation tool supplied by their plan provider, and 42% use employee surveys as a measure.

Employer concerns over retirement preparedness are right in line with findings from a national survey that shows just over half of working families are “at risk” of not having enough saved to maintain their lifestyle in retirement. That particular survey does not even factor in health care, LIMRA notes. Other research finds that nearly half of all working-age U.S. households do not own any retirement account assets. 

Nearly all employers (92%) have discussed retirement readiness with their advisers and plan providers. Two-thirds of the time, plan providers initiated this discussion.

The LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute recommends plan providers keep initiating retirement readiness discussions with employers and encourage advisers to do the same. Through a constant dialogue, both parties can better understand what solutions will work best to improve employee retirement readiness.