Schatz is based in Texas and is
responsible for supporting large corporate retirement plan sales in the
western/southwestern region. He reports to Wayne Finnegan, head of Large
Corporate Markets for ING U.S. Retirement.
Schatz most recently worked for Great-West Retirement
Services overseeing sales for the firm’s national accounts. Before that, he
held a variety of senior sales positions with Wells Fargo Institutional Trust
Services and Lincoln Financial Group.
The Insured Retirement Institute’s
(IRI’s) third annual “Boomer Expectations for Retirement” survey found 37% of
Boomers are confident in their retirement planning efforts in 2013, down from
44% in 2011. The survey indicates working with an adviser makes a significant
difference in Boomer confidence regarding financial preparation for
retirement.
Forty-eight percent of Boomers who
work with an adviser said they are extremely or very confident with their
financial preparations for retirement compared with 28% who do not work with an
adviser. Ninety-four percent of Boomers who work with an adviser have savings
for retirement compared with 64% who do not work with an
adviser.
In addition, 71% of Boomers who work
with an adviser have calculated a retirement savings goal compared with 34% who
do not work with an adviser. And, Boomers who work with an adviser are more
likely to rebalance their portfolios: 45% of Boomers who work with an adviser
rebalance their portfolios once a year compared with 24% who do not work with
an adviser.
During a conference call hosted by the IRI to kick off
National Retirement Planning Week, Greg Cicotte, president at Jackson National
Life Distributors, said planning for retirement is a process over an
individual’s years of retirement. A person’s needs at age 65 are different from
needs at age 75 or 85, he noted, adding that it is important to keep in touch
with financial advisers throughout retirement.
(Cont’d…)
Seventy-nine percent of working Boomers responding to IRI’s survey stated employment
in retirement will be a source of income, an increase of 12 percentage points
from the 2011 survey. The survey also shows a trend in planning to retire
later: in 2013, 18% of Boomers stated they were planning on retiring at age 70
or later, compared to 11% in 2011.
Of those Boomers who do not know at
what age they will retire, the most common reason given was insufficient
savings, stated by one-quarter of respondents in 2013.
Retired Boomers have higher levels
of confidence in meeting their financial needs in retirement. This is
attributed, in part, to different retirement income sources for retired Boomers
compared to working Boomers, who will more likely need an alternative source of
lifetime income.Forty-eight percent of retired Boomers stated a traditional
defined benefit pension plan is a major source of income in retirement, and 34%
said a defined contribution plan is a major source.
(Cont’d…)
By contrast, 38% of working Boomers expect a traditional defined benefit
pension plan to be a major source of income in retirement, and 45% expect a
defined contribution plan will be a major source.
Boomers experience financial
difficulties and have financial demands competing against saving for
retirement. The survey found 24% of Boomers have trouble paying their
mortgage/rent; 22% of working Boomers have stopped contributing to a retirement
savings plan; and 21% of Boomers have postponed their plans to
retire.
The costs of college education for
their children and caring for aging parents are also important considerations.
Sixty-nine percent of Boomers are not confident they will have enough money to
pay for their children’s college education, and 75% are not confident they will
have enough money to pay the long-term care expenses of their parents.
Charlotte Mooney, head of individual
retirement markets marketing at ING U.S. Retirement, stated during the
conference call that employers say employees need a complete financial
solution, including a holistic plan for retirement from accumulation to asset allocation
to decumulation, general financial literacy and a plan for short-term needs
such as paying down debt and paying for children’s college education. Employers
want to provide employees with actionable steps, and ING research shows
employees expect this education from employers, she concluded.