Retirement savings? 1 in 3 hourly workers say they’re ‘winging it’

Hourly workers – who are 56% of the workforce – are less confident they’ll have a comfortable retirement compared to salaried workers, while 25% of all workers say their employer doesn't offer a retirement plan, says a new survey.

A recent study examining both salaried and hourly workers revealed that hourly workers are less confident they will retire comfortably compared to salaried workers. The poll was run by OnePoll on behalf of Human Interest, and looked at the growing difficulty for both hourly and salaried workers to expand and maintain their retirement savings. Retirement was once considered the inevitable conclusion to one’s long-winded career in an industry. Today, only half of hourly employees feel they will be able to retire comfortably.

The study revealed that an alarming 25% of employees aren’t offered any sort of retirement savings by their employer. Hourly workers making less than $60K a year had even less access compared to salaried workers (making roughly the same amount). As the study revealed, about three in 10 hourly workers lack access to employer-based savings, while two in 10 salaried workers must also save on their own measure. That lack of access will certainly impact workers’ financial independence during and prior to retirement years.

Hourly workers make up more than half of the U.S. workforce (56%), so their lack of confidence has a substantial impact on the nation’s economy. More than half of hourly workers say they will be financially reliant on a family member. Compared to salaried workers, hourly workers are twice as likely to be without any family member they can rely on. Many hourly workers are the first generation in their families to have access to retirement savings. Nearly a third of hourly workers said their parents/grandparents did not have access to retirement savings plans, compared to a quarter of salaried employees.

A staggering one in three hourly workers admitted they were just ‘winging it’ in regards to their own retirement plan. While the average employee currently has $128,815 saved for retirement, they anticipate needing to withdraw $184,850 annually upon retiring (about 70% of their necessary finances). Many workers, both hourly and salaried, have delayed or even entirely omitted certain purchases or investments in order to more adequately fund their retirement. Some purchases delayed in order to save for retirement include:

Related: Hourly workers shift focus to immediate financial needs as inflation takes hold

“Both hourly and salaried workers seek flexibility and choices in retirement planning, but we’ve seen that hourly workers overwhelmingly lack access to plans in the first place,” said Kristina Wallender, Chief Experience Officer at Human Interest. “We need to bring the conversation about saving for retirement out in the open so that talking about it becomes a social norm.”

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