Extra Retirement Savings seen as more Important

The Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) conducted the poll for the Project 2010 coalition and found that 21% of employees consider annuities to be extremely important.

Three out of five employees surveyed said they are not confident they will receive Social Security when they retire, with nearly 60% of them saying they have been putting aside more money in retirement savings accounts.

While a majority of employees receive benefits from their employer, 64% purchase additional coverage. Of these employees, 35% set aside money in additional retirement savings accounts and 17% added annuities to their financial portfolio.

Survey findings also included:

• 94% of employers offer benefits to their employees. 
• Three-quarters of employees are not taking advantage of all of the benefits and insurance offered by their employer.
• Seven out of 10 employers offer retirement savings accounts for their employees. Over half – 54% – offer pensions and about one-fourth of employers offer their employees annuities.
• Of those employees offered benefits by their employers, over half participate in the employer’s retirement account, about four in 10 receive pensions and 16% receive annuities.

The survey covered 1,007 adults 18 years old and older, living in private households in the continental United States and was conducted from September 10 through September 13, 2010.