Data & Research May 1, 2017

More People Expect to Have a Comfortable Retirement

At 54%, this confidence about retirement is the highest in a decade.
Reported by

Fifty-four percent of people who are not yet retired expect they will have enough money for retirement, up from 48% last year, according to a Gallup survey. This is the highest percentage since 2007, when 53% expressed this confidence. However, when Gallup first started this survey in 2002, 59% said they thought they would have a comfortable retirement.

In 2008, a few months into the Great Recession, only 46% thought they would have a comfortable retirement. That declined to an all-time low of 38% in 2012.

Younger people are more optimistic about retirement than older people, with nearly two-thirds of those between the ages of 18 and 29 expecting to have a secure retirement, compared with half of those between the ages of 30 and 64.

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Those who are worried about not having enough money throughout their retirement has also declined, with 54% expressing this concern, down from 64% last year and at the lowest level since 2004. In 2012, it reached a high of 67%.

Among those who are retired, 63% are not worried about having enough money to last them throughout their golden years.

Gallup says the improving results could be the result of a healthier economy as well as the continued bull market.

The telephone survey was conducted among 1,019 adults in early April.

Data & Research April 28, 2017

Employers Support HSAs as a Retirement Benefits Strategy

Nearly three-fourths of employers think HSAs should be open to all employees, not just those enrolled in a high-deductible health plan.
Reported by

The majority (75.3%) of employers responding to the Plan Sponsor Council of America’s (PSCA)’s HSA Snapshot survey view health savings accounts (HSAs) as part of their retirement benefits strategy. 

Nearly 60% of the respondents believe HSAs should replace flexible spending accounts (FSAs), and nearly three-fourths of employers think HSAs should be open to all employees, not just those enrolled in a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).

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Based on the employer responses, about 80% of employees are eligible to participate in the HSA, when offered by the employer. The average HSA account balance was $3,161. A little more than 40% of respondents indicate that 25% or fewer of their participants use up the entire HSA balance every year and an additional 35% of plans state that 26% to 50% of their participants use their entire balance every year.

More than 80% of the employers reported contributing to the HSA, where two-thirds provide a set dollar amount based on the HDHP coverage tier. Many plans (40%) front-load contributions at the start of the year, while 30% contribute each payday.

More than half of respondents reported covering the cost of HSA maintenance fees for active employees, and 6% pay them for terminated employees. 

Only 21% of surveyed employers are concerned about the fiduciary liability of sponsoring a HSA-HDHP.

Full survey results may be found here.

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