A national survey finds that among people who are eligible to participate in an employer-sponsored defined contribution retirement plan, both men and women are concerned about saving enough for retirement, but women are more concerned with making their monthly expenses.
The survey was conducted by Brightwork Parners and sponsored by MassMutual Retirement Services.
Among other survey responses, 31 percent believe the U.S. will be in a recession in the next year and 38 percent say they are afraid of losing their jobs. Twenty-one percent said their biggest financial worry was keeping up with monthly expenses, while 18 percent said theirs was saving for retirement.
Recommended For You
Respondents under age 30 are concerned with having enough savings to purchase a home, indicating there is still an appetite for home ownership among younger workers. Keeping up with monthly expenses also was a large concern for younger workers.
The top two concerns for people over age 60 were health care costs in the case of a "catastrophic illness" and long-term care for themselves or a spouse, both of which could eradicate retirement savings.
The survey also found that 35 percent of respondents considered delaying their retirement beyond their original target date. That number jumped to 50 percent for people age 50 and older who are closer to retirement. Sixty-four percent of respondents said they expect to work at least part-time in retirement and 54 percent said they expect they will need to reduce their standard of living. Women expect to work longer than men, with an average expected retirement age of 66.9 compared to 65.6 for men.
Many workers are planning ahead for retirement. The survey found that 19 percent of respondents had increased the percentage of income they were putting in a workplace retirement plan. Another 19 percent said they are reallocating their existing portfolios and 18 percent said they are contributing to an IRA. Eight percent of respondents said they have decreased their contributions to their work retirement plan; 8 percent are taking loans from their plan; 7 percent said they stopped saving in their workplace account entirely and 4 percent said they were making hardship withdrawals from their retirement plan.
"It's encouraging to see that a significant number of participants are still taking positive actions towards securing an adequate retirement income despite the very uncertain economic conditions," says Merl Baker, principal, Brightwork Partners. "That said, there are still a lot of Americans who need help. Tools that enable participants to manage to a better retirement outcome are clearly part of the support that is needed."
Elaine Sarsynski, executive vice president of MassMutual's Retirement Services Division and chairman and CEO of MassMutual International LLC , said that "This data clearly captures the uncertainty that is pervasive in today's economic environment and, at the same time, it shows that saving for retirement is a top-of-mind concern. Research such as this continues to fuel MassMutual's efforts in the realm of plan health and participant readiness, and makes us better equipped to help participants understand what it will take for them to retire."
She added that, "Providers like MassMutual who offer tools to show retirement plan participants what they can expect in terms of projected monthly income in retirement – this is the kind of information that truly helps participants understand their situation and 'see it' in a way that is meaningful."
The survey was conducted between June 29 and July 29, 2011, and included 2,170 defined contribution plan participants.
MassMutual's Retirement Services Division offers a full range of products and services for corporate, union, nonprofit and governmental employers' defined benefit, defined contribution and nonqualified deferred compensation plans. It serves approximately 1.3 million participants.
Brightwork Partners LLC is a research-based consultancy focusing on product, service and distribution issues in retail and institutional financial services.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
