Eighty-one percent of Americans say they would support an act by Congress to make pensions more widely available, according to a nationwide report by the National Institute on Retirement Security.
This type of pension would be transferable between jobs, allow for regular checks through retirement, easily administrable for employers and provide professional money management, as described by the report, which reflect similar characteristics of a possible proposal by the U.S. Senate known as Universal, Secure and Adaptable Retirement Funds. Millennial respondents are especially supportive of this with 88 percent agreeing it would be a good move.
The report also finds 85 percent of respondents feel highly anxious about their retirement prospects and believe pensions could better their retirement readiness. While retirement is still many years away, 95 percent of millennial respondents say the U.S. retirement system is facing stress and in need of repair. An additional 87 percent of respondents say as more baby boomers are retiring without pensions or adequate savings, it is straining families as well as the economy.
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"Despite stabilization of the financial markets, declining unemployment and increased consumer confidence, Americans are deeply worried about retirement," says Diane Oakley, executive director and report co-author of NIRS. "Perhaps the high level of anxiety can be tied to Americans' sentiment about the risks embedded in today's crumbling retirement infrastructure — one where fewer Americans have a reliable monthly pension check in exchange for a system where Americans are investing on their own in a volatile stock market.
"An overwhelming majority of Americans agree that the Great Recession exposed the risks of the nation's retirement system — 87 percent, up from 81 percent in 2011. Across generations, millennials are most in tune with the risks of the system — some 96 percent agree that the downturn exposed risks inherent in the system. It seems today's younger workers want the security of their grandparents' pension, not the do-it-yourself retirement accounts of their parents."
Eighty-three percent of respondents express positive views of pensions with 82 percent of respondents agreeing pensions are more likely to secure retirement. Another 84 percent of respondents believe all Americans should have access to a pension if they are to be self-sufficient during retirement.
Meanwhile, 87 percent of respondents say policymakers lack an understanding of the difficulties of saving for retirement. Another 67 percent of respondents say government spending should not be cut in a manner that reduces Social Security benefits for today's retirees.
Seventy-three percent of respondents support public pensions because those workers contribute to their funds while 86 percent of respondents back public pensions among professions with high-risk jobs and low pay, such as police officers and firefighters. For teachers, 72 percent of respondents support public pensions because of their low pay.
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