September 11, 2012
--- Participants have expressed anxiety over retirement readiness,
Joe Connell, managing director of Sheridan Road Financial, told attendees at
the 2012 PLANADVISER National Conference in Orlando. ---
Panelists discussed ways to improve savings rates and raise
consciousness among retirement plan sponsors as well as plan participants.
“You can’t plan if you’re just an accumulator,” said George
Revoir, senior vice president, distribution, John Hancock Financial Services. The
mindset of participants and of the industry needs attention, and sponsors need
to develop strategies that examine motivation and activity. “We have to make decisions as an industry, as
a as a provider, as a vendor, decide what a saver is,” Revoir said. Some of the
decisions are what we’re going to market, and what do participants need to do
to get to retirement readiness.
Stuart L. Ritter, vice president and certified financial planner,
T. Rowe Price Retirement Plan Services Inc., was critical of the 3% deferral. “Saving
3% for retirement is like going to the gym for 6 minutes,” he said. The goal
should be 15%, according to Ritter. “We don’t design plans,” Ritter said. “We design
outcomes. More people, saving more money and being more successful.”
Participant action and plan design are the two ways to
create change, said Kris Gates, assistant vice president, marketing
communications, MassMutual Retirement Services. If someone has a dollar of
income, they can spend it or save it. Examining the consumer goods industry to
see how they get people to spend money can yield some insight into how to
influence behavior. “We should use the same tactics to get them to save,” Gates
said.