Talking Points

One in 10 Americans says retirement is not an attainable goal. ­According to a survey from Edward Jones, 32% of Americans identify financial issues, such as the need to focus on immediate expenses, as  the rationale for their lack of savings.

INVESTING: overly complex, overwhelming. -Almost half of investors (40%) think investment products are “overly complex,” and 34% feel “overwhelmed” by the investment choices available to them, according to the MFS Investing Sentiment Survey. At the same time, 62% would like to become more knowledgeable investors, and 56% feel advisers do a good job of explaining investment options.

“Do exactly what you would do if you felt most secure.” —Meister Eckhart

RISK: Protecting retirement assets from risk is the most important concern for Americans of every age, according to Charles Schwab’s quarterly Retirement­ Pulse Survey. About one-third of investors surveyed (35%) consider protecting­ retirement­ assets more important than increasing­ them.’

96%- Among benefits most directly related to economic security, ­employers with 50 or more employees are most likely (96%) to offer 401(k) or 403(b) retire­ment­ plans. In addition, the Families and Work Institute’s 2012 National Study of Employers found 83% of them made contributions to employee’s individual retire­­ment plans, while only 22% offer defined benefit pensions.