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Data & Research December 2, 2015
Workers Would Like Better Matches, More Investment Choices
Generation X, especially, would value richer retirement benefits, a survey finds.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
New research from MassMutual finds that overall, 44% of American workers age 18 or older would prefer better 401(k) matches, and 14% would prefer more investment choices in their retirement plans.
But, better 401(k) matches was the top choice for Generation X (ages 36 to 49), while it was the third choice (35%) for Generation Y (ages 18 to 35) after more vacation and a flexible work schedule, and tied with expanded health care for the second choice (43%) for Baby Boomers (ages 50 to 70) after more vacation.
Boomers (24%) would like more investment choices in their retirement plans more so than Gen Y (13%) or Gen X (11%).
According to Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual Retirement Services and Worksite Insurance, the findings are most likely a reflection that few Xers have access to pensions and that many Boomers have not saved enough for retirement.
Employees say their finances are very important to them but they are not backing up those words with actions. Employees spend much less time reviewing their personal finances or thinking about their employer-provided benefits than doing things deemed less important, like watching television or looking at their social media pages.
The study focused on 1,517 working Americans who were in a wide variety of jobs and industries and at least age 18. More findings can be found here.