The company announced the hire of Paul Swanson in the role
of vice president for intermediary sales and institutional relationship management.
He joins the CUNA organization with more than 26 years of experience in the retirement
industry and a lengthy track record of leadership at companies such as ING,
Prudential Retirement and Lincoln Financial Group. Swanson was most recently
managing director of the intermediary-sold defined contribution investment-only
(DCIO) and sub-advisory businesses for SEI Investments.
Swanson will lead CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions’ intermediary
and institutional sales efforts and will report to Paul Chong, senior vice president.
“Aligning our intermediary and institutional groups will
allow us to more closely coordinate our wholesaling activities with our sales partners
in the DCIO and broker/dealer worlds,” Chong explains.
CUNA Mutual Retirement Solutions also announces the
promotion of Chris Phillips to director of institutional sales—a role in which
he will report directly to Swanson. Phillips is responsible for institutional
sales and managing the firm’s broker/dealer and DCIO relationships. Chong says
Phillips has built strong relationships with top broker/dealers and DCIO firms
in his previous position as director of strategic accounts.
Having an actual plan makes a big difference to achieving
retirement goals, and having an actual adviser makes a big difference in having
that plan, research says.
Nearly a quarter of Baby Boomers (22%) report having no
savings for retirement, according to data from the “IRI Fact Book 2014” from the Insured
Retirement Institute (IRI), which the institute is billing as a primer on the
latest retirement income trends and strategies.
Among those Boomers who said they do have savings for retirement,
four out of 10 reported having saved less than $100,000. According to “Age of
Opportunity: Americans Transitioning into Retirement,” a study by The Hartford
cited in IRI’s book, one in three retirees state that if they could change just
one aspect of their retirement, it would be to save more money and be better
prepared financially (see “As Long As
They’re Healthy…”).
IRI contends that while automatic enrollment and automatic deferral escalation features in employer-sponsored
retirement plans have helped retirement savings levels take an upward swing, they may
still not be enough to ensure adequate savings. Individuals need to be more
engaged in retirement planning, the report says. Seeking help from a
financial adviser is one of the most effective ways for workplace savers to become more proactive, IRI says.
A number of factors—increased responsibility placed on individuals
for structuring their own retirement income, coupled with the recent headwinds from the financial
crisis, the subsequent recession, and a slow economic recovery—have created a
set of economic conditions that have negatively affected the retirement savings
behaviors of Baby Boomers, the report says.
In a section of the report titled “Barriers to
Saving,” IRI examines some inhibitors to saving for retirement and how
potential changes to tax policy can exacerbate these impediments. IRI researchers also explore how working with an adviser can help
achieve desired levels of savings and how annuities can help as sustainable retirement
income vehicles in the defined contribution plan context.
Key Findings
The “Barriers to Savings” section found the following:
21% of Boomers have stopped contributing to a retirement plan;
20% have had difficulty paying the mortgage/rent in the past
12 months;
54% stated they would be less likely to save if federal
income taxes increased; and
39% stated they would be less likely to save if capital gains
taxes increased.
Given the above findings, IRI recommends that tax policy
should follow a do-no-harm principal, contending that tax increases will dampen
Boomers’ retirement savings. If tax deferral for growth within retirement plans
is reduced or eliminated, 40% of Boomers would be less likely to save for
retirement.
Increases in federal income taxes and capital gains taxes
would have an even stronger negative effect on Boomers’ retirement saving
behaviors, IRI says. The reason for such negative effects on savings is that these
increases would reduce the after-tax income of workers, putting additional
stresses on already stressed family budgets.
There are ways to overcome the barriers, IRI says in its
report. Those who work with an adviser and set up a plan tend to fare better. Among
Boomers who work with a financial adviser, 74% had determined a savings goal. IRI
found that having a plan for retirement increases retirement confidence levels.
Nearly half of Boomers with a plan (49%) prepared by an adviser said they were
extremely or very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably
throughout retirement. In comparison, just 20% of Boomers whose advisers did
not prepare a written savings and investing plan expressed confidence.
Nearly 43% of
Boomers who have consulted an adviser reported that they are very or extremely
confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout
retirement, compared with 33% who have not consulted a financial adviser. The difference in confidence levels stems from having
prepared a financial plan with an adviser. IRI found that among Boomers working
with a financial adviser, 75% stated that the financial adviser prepared a
retirement plan.
The IRI Fact Book 2014 offers recent retirement income research,
industry data and sales reports for the variable and fixed annuity markets. This
edition focuses on explaining features of annuity products and outlines considerations
for financial advisers for including insured retirement strategies in
retirement income plans. The IRI Fact Book 2014 can be downloaded from the website of the IRI.