Let's Celebrate National Retirement Planning Week 2016!
Although the percentage of workers confident about having enough money for a comfortable retirement seems to be increasing, a large percentage of workers report they have virtually little to no retirement savings. Cost of living and day-to-day expenses typically head the list of reasons why workers do not save (or save more) for retirement. Financial stress levels, aggravated immensely by the Great Recession, continue to be high among today's workers, and many employers continue to support their employees by offering financial wellness programs. Employees are facing unprecedented challenges and uncertainty as they approach retirement, and this can keep them from performing when they're on the job. Typical financial education programs don't do much to drive behavioral change, but financial wellness initiatives offer a targeted and proactive approach.
Workers -- particularly younger workers -- are eager for greater support for their retirement planning, according to BlackRock's "Defined Contribution Pulse Survey," In total, 55% of workers said their employers should provide more help, and the younger the cohort the more decided the call for help: 63% of Millennials reported that they think their employers should do more to help them prepare for retirement versus 47% of Baby Boomers.
Many factors can have a significant impact on one's savings and income, and National Retirement Planning Week helps to bring awareness and education around these factors in order to help individuals work towards a sound financial future. The National Retirement Planning website offers many great articles, tools, and resources for individuals, along with numerous ways for employers to participate in this initiative. The National Retirement Planning Week website, also, offers collateral materials for NRPC partners and other groups to participate in the week.
I encourage you to check out the many resources and activities available to help promote the importance of retirement savings and overall financial wellness. There are tools and calculators, along with tips on budgeting, asset management, social security, investing, fraud prevention, and health-care. Speaking of health-care, according to most sources, working Americans today will need to save more for health-care costs in their retirement. Let's not, also, forget the implications for the need for long-term care down the road, especially as more people are living longer in their retirement years.
I particularly liked a section where they talked about eight aspects of your retirement paycheck, including items like debt, and home & mortgage. The section addresses how choices & decisions in each of the eight areas can work together to optimize one's retirement money. Offering a holistic approach to looking at one's financial future, each of the eight elements has an icon you can click which provides individuals with more information about that aspect of retirement, questions to consider, and how that aspect can be impacted by the other elements.
As part of the coalition, WorldatWork recognizes retirement planning as a key component of an organization's overall benefits and total rewards strategy, and the significant role employers play in helping their employees save for the future. With the demise of traditional pension plans, and the uncertainty of the future of Social Security, responsibility for saving for retirement has shifted primarily to individuals via defined contribution plans and individual retirement accounts. We know that for a great majority of people, 401(k) plans will serve as the primary retirement vehicle for many future retirees.
As employer-sponsored retirement plans play a critical role in the retirement preparation of individuals, many organizations continue to support workers in preparing for retirement by demonstrating their commitment to 401(k) plans.
To support these education efforts, the coalition has made these tools available year-round at www.retireonyourterms.org.
Let's celebrate National Retirement Planning Week 2016 and help promote the value of retirement planning. The time is NOW! Our financial future depends on it!
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