Employees Identify Potential Retirement Plan Improvements

More than eight out of 10 respondents (84%) who had a workplace plan said they take an active role in managing their retirement savings and investments, compared to only about half (53%) without any type of retirement savings vehicle.   

However, according to the survey results, respondents identified a number of ways employers could be more proactive in facilitating and stimulating employee savings, including:

• offering a diversity of investment options within their plans (88%);
• making employees aware of what their current accumulated savings account balance would be if converted into a monthly income stream upon retirement (84%);
• providing more education and tools to help employees better understand how to save (83%);
• offering a workplace retirement plan, regardless of the employer’s size (76%); and
• incorporating plan strategies to make saving easier and more automatic for employees (75%).

According to the findings, a majority of Americans believe the private retirement savings system is not at all broken. In addition, nearly three-quarters of those polled (74%) agreed—and almost half (49%) strongly so—that saving for retirement was an individual’s responsibility and not the government’s job. 

The ING Survey, “Beyond the Politics and Pundits: What Americans Think about the Private Retirement System,” was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs from March 18 to 22, polling 1,000 adult men and women nationwide.