62 percent said retirement benefits were a critical factor in staying with a job too. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Although most workers in a global study say that pension and retirement benefits play a critical role in whether they accept or stay in a job, employers aren't doing many upgrades to those benefits if they don't bring them any tax advantages.
Research from Accenture covering 10 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and South America reveals that 68 percent of workers with pension or retirement plans said those benefits were a critical factor in deciding whether or not to accept a job, and 62 percent said they were a critical factor in staying with a job.
But a report from the Society of Human Resource Management indicates that although "the vast majority" of U.S. employers believe that retirement savings and planning benefits are very or extremely important to their workers, they're not doing much to keep those programs as attractive to employees as they could—because the tax advantage to employers hasn't increased.
In fact, just 12 percent of U.S. employers say they've increased benefits over the last year. And it's not just businesses that aren't falling all over themselves to make sure that people are going to be financially secure in retirement; it's public retirement systems as well.
And while, according to the Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index, the U.S. isn't exactly bursting records for either adequacy or sustainability in "delivering financial security for their retirees that is both adequate for the individual and sustainable for the economy," other countries are taking the initiative to provide secure and livable benefits for their workers.
According to the Mercer report, "This year's Index reveals that many North-Western European countries lead the world in developing world class pension systems." However, when calculated on a basis of three metrics—adequacy, sustainability and integrity—Mercer's index reveals that the U.S. is below average in each of those categories, as well as in overall value. Leading the pack are the Netherlands (overall average 80.3), Denmark (80.2), Finland (74.5), Australia (72.6) and Sweden (72.5).
The average of the 34 pension systems Mercer evaluated was 60.5. Where did the U.S. finish? With an average of 58.8.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
