As part of National Retirement Planning Week, Guardian Retirement Solutions is promoting a website designed to help people plan for their later years by offering a personality-driven approach to retirement planning.
Launched late last year, the site, Retirement Style Matters, identifies four different retirement styles or personalities: The Connector, The Analyst, The Seeker and The Adventurer. Once a person figures out what type of saver they are, they can then develop a savings plan that fits in with their financial personality.
"An alarming number of workers simply aren't taking the necessary steps to prepare themselves and their families for retirement," said Doug Dubitsky, vice president of product management and development for Guardian Retirement Solutions. "The tools available on the Retirement Style Matters site are designed to help people become more comfortable with the planning process, thereby making it more likely that they will start saving for retirement."
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The website also offers financial literacy features, including, "How Will You Spend Today?" a planning activity that helps put retirement spending in perspective in a fun and engaging way. A "Design Your Future" workbook helps clients build their retirement blueprint; and "What's Your Gap?" helps pre-retirees determine if their planned sources of income are sufficient after retirement or if they will suffer from a retirement income gap.
The site was created with the help of behavioral finance expert Dr. Daniel Crosby.
Retirement readiness is a growing concern.
According to the 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey, released in March by the Employee Benefits Research Institute, more than half of American workers (53 percent) have not completed a retirement needs assessment, one of the most basic steps in retirement planning. Alarmingly, 45 percent of workers in the survey said they simply guess to arrive at the level of savings necessary to live comfortably in retirement.
This lack of retirement preparedness coincides with Americans living longer than ever. According to the Society of Actuaries, a male reaching retirement age in 2013 can expect to live to 85 while a female will reach 87.
"As average life spans increase, the need for proper retirement planning becomes even more critical. Financial literacy can inspire people to take the first steps to a secure retirement and National Retirement Planning Week is the perfect time to reach out with tools designed to help educate employees and retirees alike," Dubitsky said. "By using tools like those found on the Retirement Style Matters website, people can arm themselves with information to better prepare for the future."
A mutual insurer founded in 1860, The Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America and its subsidiaries offer individuals, business owners and their employees life, disability income and dental insurance products, and offer funding vehicles for 401(k) plans, annuities and other financial products.
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