Data & Research April 12, 2017

Employees Have Yet to Embrace HSAs

With the right support, employees are more likely to both choose and report satisfaction with HSA-linked health coverage.
Reported by

A new analysis shared by Mercer outlines high level trends measured among employers offering health savings accounts (HSAs), finding that overall HSA use has grown relatively slowly.

“Despite the cost savings available, for the most part large employers still offer these plans as a choice, rather than as the only medical plan,” the analysis finds. “Just 6% of all large employers offer an HSA-eligible plan as a full replacement of their traditional medical plan.”

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The analysis may be of interest to plan sponsors and advisers who have embraced a holistic view of health and retirement wealth benefits. This group understands the typical employee saving for retirement today can expect to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on medical care during retirement—and so they embrace HSAs and any other tools aimed at easing that burden. At a high level, HSAs are favored because the accounts can be funded with tax-free contributions, can grow via tax-free investing, and can be maximized on the back end by tax-free withdrawals for qualified medical purchases. 

Findings show the largest employees are likeliest to offer HSAs as a choice to employees, but they are also the least likely to offer HSA-backed health coverage as the sole health benefit. In a divergence from the retirement planning market, it appears that employer contributions to HSAs are not a big motivator in getting employees to embrace them. As Mercer explains, “even when employers make a contribution to their employees’ HSA accounts, average enrollment is only slightly higher than when they don’t.”

Mercer finds more than half of all large employers offer an HSA-eligible plan at this stage, but under a fourth of covered employees are actually enrolled in one. With the right support, employees are more likely to both choose and report satisfaction with HSA-linked health coverage.

“Some employees clearly value the opportunity to pay lower monthly premiums and take advantage of the tax savings available, while others are reluctant to make that trade-off,” Mercer explains. “Whether you want to build enrollment over time or move to a full replacement, there are tools that make the transition easier for employees.”

Data & Research April 12, 2017

Retirement Trends Taking a Turn in America

For various reasons including recovering from the Great Recession and paying off debt, many Americans are working past the traditional retirement age of 65.
Reported by

The familiar narrative of retirement in the United States could be re-written as more people find themselves in the workforce past the traditional departure age of 65.

A recent survey by USA Today and Ipsos reports that nearly one-third of Americans ages 45 to 65 said they plan to delay retirement past the traditional benchmark. Twenty-two percent said they plan to exit the workforce between the ages of 66 and 70. Seven percent said they plan to do it within their early 70s, and 3% said they plan to call it quits after the age of 75. Moreover, 8% said they don’t plan to retire at all.

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And the Great Recession only added to what seemed like a perfect storm of financial calamities. Researchers note that “Bouts of unemployment, the housing crash, aid provided to distressed family members and mountains of student debt are some of the factors that respondents say are making it tough to save enough for retirement.”

According to the survey, nearly one-third cited unemployment as a major reason for falling behind on savings. They placed similar blame on mortgages (39%), medical issues (48%), helping family members (37%), and paying debt (44%).

However, at least 61% of those surveyed say they’re somewhat or very confident they’ll have enough money for living expenses, health care, housing, travel and other expenses in retirement. But after researchers crunched the numbers, the future did not seem so bright. Fifty-four percent say they’ll need more than $500,000 to live comfortably. But 30% have no retirement savings. And of those that do, 30% have less than $100,000, while 34% have between $100,000 and $500,000.

Of those who said they plan to work after retiring, more than half (65%) said they will need to supplement their income, though many point to other reasons as well, such as wanting to keep busy and stay socially engaged.

The future may hold more opportunity for those that need it. Researchers point out that employers are growing more accustomed to hiring consultants and other temporary workers to complete projects as opposed to bringing on full-time staff. This may allow older workers to find lower-level, yet decently-compensated, employment in fields they are already experienced in.

Respondents also listed more fun things they want to do in retirement. Fifty-five percent said they want to travel, and 52% said they would spend more time with family.

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