Labor Department tools and information to help consumers determine how much money they will need to maintain their standard of living when they retire are faulty, the General Accountability Office charged Monday.
“Workers may over- or underestimate how much they need to save for retirement, said GAO, the investigative arm of Congress.
GAO said the DOL Employee Benefits Security Administration’s worksheet and tools for helping workers decide how much to save are inadequate because they don’t let consumers make the calculations to account for individual circumstances, such as family size, income levels and lifestyle choices.
These factors, GAO noted, can increase or decrease retirement savings needs from the average.
Other factors, the Congressional researchers said, could alter the amount of savings required, include whether a husband and wife stop working at different times and whether a retiree has a pension benefit that is not indexed to inflation.
By June of next year, EBSA plans to add an example of a replacement rate specifically for married couples.
DOL Retirement Income Replacement Tools Are Faulty, GAO Charges
March 2, 2016
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