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Sure, there are tools and calculators, but a report from Cerulli points out that more than 40 percent of participants in 401(k) plans don't have an official source for retirement advice—and among those with less assets, the gap is particularly severe.
In its report The Cerulli Edge—U.S. Retirement Edition, Cerulli also points out that fully half of plan participants in their 50s are in the same boat.
"Tools and calculators helping investors translate account balances to replacement ratios and overall 'retirement readiness' (including assumptions for market returns and life expectancy) are hardly new, but providers must realize the need for expanded customization in this regard," Anastasia Krymkowski, associate director at Cerulli Associates, is quoted saying.
Among the problems faced by those without a place to go for retirement advice is the fact that other sources of income aside from the 401(k), such as Social Security, are often overlooked. In fact, the report points out, only 18 percent of active participants even realize that most of their retirement income will come from Social Security, even though it makes up the largest portion of income for retired households with less than $2 million in investable assets.
Planners who serve as sources of expert advice need to consider participants' behavioral biases, in particular with regard to annuities, as well as be able to counsel investors on the tradeoffs associated with annuities in the quest to nail down guaranteed income. At the same time they need to remind retirees that guaranteed income doesn't have to be an all-or-nothing strategy—particularly since annuities don't necessarily have a positive image thanks to recent investigations; participants may see them as expensive and way too complicated to deal with.
Other often-overlooked dilemmas include the question of how to pay for health care—despite the amount of stress this causes participants—and how to manage retirement income to minimize taxes.
And there's a need for help with drawdown strategies beyond the so-called 4 percent rule, particularly among participants who lack understanding of how to plan efficiently to finally start to use the money they've been saving all their working lives.
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Marlene Satter
Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.
