July 31, 2012

Adviser Is Driver of Retirement Readiness

Working with a financial adviser is one of several steps participants can take to improve their readiness for retirement and become more confident in making financial decisions, according to the Putnam Lifetime Income Score.

Reported by Jill Cornfield

The company’s survey of nearly 4,000 working Americans indicates that a continuing critical factor in retirement readiness is savings behavior. The best-prepared are active participants in a workplace savings plan, deferring at least 10% of income and using the services of a financial adviser. These workers indicated greater confidence in their ability to make financial decisions. The choice to work with an adviser also had a material impact on Lifetime Income Scores. Those who worked with an adviser had scores of 89 this year (a rise from 82 last year), while those who did not work with an adviser scored 58 (a drop from last year’s 61).