Retirees and current workers have different ideas about what they need to retire, according to a new survey.
Based on the Northern Trust Asset Management’s 2017 DC Participant Survey, the majority of workers and retirees are concerned about losing money on their investments. Approximately 8 percent of participants felt that investments designed to protect against inflation and market risk were appealing.
Current workers are not confident they will meet their retirement goals, according to the findings. Almost half of workers surveyed expect to work longer and think they will need $1 million or more to retire. Only a quarter of retirees surveyed felt they needed that amount to live comfortably and looked at investment performance as a measure of their success.
The survey revealed almost half of workers had less concern about the actual brand managers of the products and more about the product’s objectives, while retirees were slightly more concerned with the brand manager. All participants were satisfied with the alignment of target-date funds and their performance.
ESG investments were not just a millennial investment trend, the survey found. Both workers and retirees believe that ESG plans should be available in 401(k) plans, and almost 10 percent of those surveyed already have ESG investments.
The survey questioned 1,300 participants, including 300 retirees in defined contribution plans of all sizes and offered by many different plan providers.
NTAM is a leading global asset manager of defined contribution plans, with assets under management of of $172 billion as of September 30.
To learn more about the survey click here.