American workers have rebounded from the Great Recession, but they still need help preparing for retirement. Bothpolicymakers and employers can help, according to a comparative analysis of survey findings, A Retirement Security Retrospective: 2007 Versus 2017, by nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS).
The new report highlights the resilience of the U.S. retirement system, and focuses on retirement savings activity, 401(k) contributions and savings in similar plans. "The great news for Americans — 401(k) retirement pension and college savings accounts have gone through the roof," said President Donald Trump in a State of Union address earlier this year.
However, there's are a few problems—only 14 percent of all employers offer a 401(k) or defined contribution plan to their workers. That 14 percent figure includes a huge swath of small employers with fewer than ten employees, according to 2017 research from the U.S. Census Bureau. Among the 1,825 employers surveyed by Transamerica, 1,512 companies employed 10 or more people and 72 percent offered a 401(k) or similar plan.
Among workers who have been saving, 30 percent said they had made a withdrawal or taken out some form of a loan from their 401(k), IRA, or a similar plan, according to the report. Early withdrawals and loans can severely inhibit growth in retirement savings. Moreover, many workers are unsure how much they will need to have saved.
In 2017, American workers grossly underestimated the savings they would need to retire— on average, they estimated needing $500,000 (median)— substantially less than the $650,000 median found a decade ago in 2007. Nearly half of all workers (49 percent) said they “guessed” when estimating the retirement savings they would need in 2017.
“While the growth in workers’ retirement accounts since pre-Great Recession levels is impressive, many workers may not be saving enough to meet their retirement income needs – and most could benefit from planning-related activities such as estimating savings goals and setting forth a financial plan,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and TCRS.
Regardless of the uncertainty surrounding saving, 401(k) contributions (and similar plans) have remained consistently strong. Eighty-percent of respondents said they are currently participating or have invested money a 401(k) plan — slightly higher than the 77 percent of American workers who said they were participating in 2007, the study found.
In fact, household savings in retirement accounts have significantly increased since their pre-recession levels across all generations of American workers, including Millennials ($9,000 in 2007 to $36,000 in 2017), Generation X ($32,000 to $71,000), and Baby Boomers ($75,000 to $157,000), according to the report.
“Workers, employers, and policymakers collectively play a vital role in improving retirement security. By recognizing the opportunities, each stakeholder can take appropriate action and implement solutions,” said Collinson.
It is well documented that employer-sponsored retirement benefits can be instrumental in encouraging employees to save, the study suggests. The majority (72 percent) of respondents said their employer offers a 401(k) or similar plan—however that number has remained stagnant since 2007 —signaling there may be room to for improvement.