Data & Research

It should start with determining sponsors’ concrete goals and can then move to usage metrics.

Two-thirds of small businesses that currently do not offer a retirement plan say that they would consider doing so through an open MEP, Empower learned in a survey.

In addition, the report discusses possible refinements to the baseline strategy, introduced last year, to address specific goals and circumstances, such as uneven expense and income flows, or alternative patterns of retirement income.

A research report provides an analysis of how including a default deferred income annuity (DIA) can improve retirement income for retirees and offers suggestions advisers can give 401(k) plan clients for implementing it.

A survey by Voya also found that sponsors do not always understand the services that advisers provide, which means that advisers need to communicate their value more effectively.

Introducing auto portability and allowing open multiple employer plans (MEPs) were simulated to have the biggest impact on decreasing the retirement income deficit.

GAO says the two agencies do not share enough information on these exemptions, and that sharing more information would lead to greater transparency and consistency.

Seventy-five percent of workers said that if they were offered savings options at the time of a raise, they would be less stressed and more confident about their finances, according to a survey from Commonwealth.

This is assuming their health is average, according to Milliman. 

It remains to be seen whether or not Gen Xers can change their savings and spending habits to catch up, EBRI says.

Women place more importance on advice that fits into their work or personal schedule, as opposed to men who place more importance on advice that alerts them to critical developments in their accounts, a T. Rowe Price survey found.

Forty-two percent don’t even know it is possible to keep assets in a plan once one leaves an employer.

Financial stress is on the rise in all generations, indicating that financial wellness programs are missing the mark, according to PwC. A new survey report from the firm suggests many employers have simply relabeled existing resources as "financial wellness programs."

EBRI found a significant difference in retirement deficits when comparing the current environment where defined contribution plan participants rollover their assets versus a hypothetical state where workers never rollover their DC assets.

The study finds that participants who join plans with a TDF default contribute to fewer funds and are significantly more likely to choose only TDFs for their allocations.

In 2016, the average plan offered 27 investment options, according to a report from BrightScope and ICI. 

Women are even more concerned than men.

Both groups have become less optimistic since the start of the year, according to Nationwide. 

At year-end 2018, 66% of new plan entrants were enrolled via automatic enrollment.