May I have a drum-roll, please?  In this "select all that apply" question, the top five most frequently cited priorities in the survey (in order of the percentage response rates) were: 

(1) Fully fund Social Security in its current state to ensure Americans receive their guaranteed benefits [57 percent].

(2) Provide tax credits to workers (earning up to $50,000 annually) who make contributions to an IRA, 401(k), or similar plan, such as a 403(b) [47 percent].

(3) Encourage 401(k) plans to offer to pay benefits in a form that guarantees retirees a set level of monthly income, regardless of how long they live [43 percent].

(4) Educate Americans early by implementing a financial literacy curriculum in the schools [42 percent].

(5) Ensure that all workers have the ability to contribute to a 401(k) plan, or a similar type of plan, such as a 403(b) plan [38 percent].

(A full set of responses to this question can be found on an infographic posted on the Center's website.)

One may ask how this information is useful. Knowing workers' priorities with respect to retirement security can assist policymakers as well as aid employers, retirement plan service providers, and advisors with plan design considerations (for new or existing plans). Additionally, employers and others can identify areas of emphasis for purposes of educating workers about their plans and about their retirement. 

Seemingly, employers, retirement plan service providers, and advisors may not be able to do much about the first priority, above, so my comments are directed toward the remaining priorities.

Next: Providing tax credits to workers, and improving financial literacy

Providing tax credits to workers … The good news is that this credit is already available!  The "bad" news is that employees may not be aware of the Internal Revenue Service's retirement savings contributions credit (also known as the Saver's Credit). According to the Center's survey, only 25 percent of workers are aware of the Saver's Credit.

Here's how the Saver's Credit works: For the first $2,000 of contributions an employee makes to a 401(k) or similar employer-sponsored retirement plan (or to an IRA), tax credits are available of up to $1,000 for single-filers, and $2,000 for married couples. For 2012 and 2013, the adjusted gross income limit for the Saver's Credit is $57,500 (2012) and $59,000 (2013) for married couples filing jointly; $43,125 (2012) and $44,250 (2013) for heads of household; and $28,750 (2012) and $29,500 (2013) for married individuals filing separately and for singles. 

More good news: Employers with a 401(k) or similar type of retirement plan have a great opportunity to let their employees know about the tax credit for purposes of preparing their (the employees') 2012 returns. Advisors can help employers highlight the benefits of the retirement plan and making contributions, and service providers can help identify the employees possibly eligible for the tax credit.

For 2013 and beyond, employers, service providers, and advisors can target eligible participants with an education campaign, letting them know that, besides the benefits of saving for retirement and simultaneously deferring taxes until retirement, a tax credit may be available. 

Financial literacy/education … Employers, retirement plan service providers, and advisors may not be able to jump-start a financial literacy/educational program in school (a priority indicated in the survey) but they can certainly assist with implementing an educational program for their employees.

As part of its annual retirement survey, the Center publishes a detailed analysis in a special report that compares workers across demographic segments such as generation/age range, gender, and more. Knowing the attitudes and beliefs by these demographic segments can help employers, service providers, and advisors craft education programs to target specific groups of employees. 

As an example, some of the Center's survey results are reported by generation, where the "echo boomers" are those born in years 1979 – 1988, "Generation X" born 1965 – 1978, and "baby boomers" 1946 – 1964. 

When asked what they expected to be their primary source of income in retirement, 50 percent of echo boomers and Generation X indicated "401(k), 403(b), or IRAs" compared to only 39 percent of baby boomers. For more demographic breakouts, check out the full worker survey report.

Armed with the knowledge how various groups of employees view their 401(k) plan and/or how they intend to rely on such to fund their retirement is powerful. An employer, service-provider, and advisor can use such knowledge in designing financial literacy/educational materials and programs specifically targeted to one or more of the various groups.

Next: Sponsoring a 401(k) or similar type of plan

Sponsor a 401(k) or similar type of plan … Offering a 401(k) is always a great start for employers to help their employees save for retirement! According to the survey, 82 percent of the employers sponsor a 401(k) or similar plan. Of the employers who do not sponsor such a plan, only 16 percent said that they were likely to implement a plan within the next two years.

Once a plan is in place, educating employees about the plan and overall financial literacy is crucial to the plan's and employees' retirement savings success. Although 74 percent of the employers agreed that their employees do not know as much as they should about retirement investing, 15 percent proactively engaged employees with education about the plan and/or investments only once (during initial enrollment), 30 percent just annually, and only 36 percent at least a few times each year.

In addition to offering a plan and educating employees, a related tip employers and advisors should consider implementing is an automatic contribution arrangement (also known as an automatic enrollment feature) as part of a 401(k) plan. 

Requiring employees to elect out of saving (which is the crux of an automatic enrollment feature) can lead to favorable results, where employees who do nothing are automatically enrolled into saving and who will generally continue saving – particularly when the savings percentage is automatically escalated annually.  

In the survey, 18 percent of the employers' plans included an automatic enrollment feature.  Of those employers, 59 percent of the employees' responses about automatic enrollment were favorable, 33 percent were neutral, and only 5 percent had a negative response.  Among those that automatically enroll, 31 percent of the plans automatically escalate the contribution rates an annual basis.

A concerning phenomenon was recently noted in an article in the Institutional Investor, citing recent surveys (one by Aon Hewitt and the other by the Vanguard Group), which reported that less than 10 percent of employees who are automatically enrolled will elect out of such – even without regard to the default enrollment rate, be it an initial 3 percent, 5 percent, or even more. 

For employers with existing plans, their service providers, and their advisors, the advice is to implement a more robust financial literacy/educational program, and consider adding an automatic enrollment feature.  For employers and their advisors without a plan, consider offering a 401(k) or similar type of plan.

As a familiar quotation states, knowledge is power. Let's use the knowledge learned by the Center's survey to empower ourselves to creating a better retirement savings experience and future for American workers!