October 04, 2012
--- Employees
are making some positive changes to their retirement planning, but poor money
management skills and long-term economic challenges present major obstacles.
---
Financial Finesse’s second annual research report about the
state of U.S. employee retirement preparedness says 32% of questions received
by the company’s on-staff Certified Financial Planner professionals in the second quarter of 2012
were about retirement planning issues versus 25% in Q2 2011, and a greater
percentage of employees reported running retirement plan projections (39%) in
the first half of 2012 versus the same period a year ago
(33%).
However, as of June 30, 51% of employees said they did
not have an emergency fund in place, and 33% reported not having a handle on
their cash flow. The firm’s research division believes this may be why
employees are not making more dramatic improvements to their preparedness
despite short-term economic improvements.
According to Greg Ward, the firm’s research group director,
“It is also the reason that we are seeing an increase in the percentage of
employees reporting that they have taken a retirement plan loan or hardship
withdrawal, at 34% in the first half of 2012 versus 27% in the first half of
2011.”
The full report is here.
Rebecca Moore