A new study by the National Association of Retirement Plan Participants (Narpp) said there are dangers for workers being overconfident or underconfident about their financial knowledge.
After surveying 5,000 defined-contribution-plan participants on their perceived financial literacy and testing them to find their actual comprehension last fall, Narpp found 20 percent were overconfident and 23 percent were underconfident.
The “overs” more often take steps to determine how much money they will need at retirement compared with workers who are underconfident about their financial savvy. Another benefit is they contact their plan recordkeepers more often to get guidance. They are also more prone to buy more products for their defined-contribution plans.
Unlike underconfident employees, the overconfident are in less danger of being frozen in indecision about acting on retirement savings moves.
Probably not surprising, younger workers tend to be more overconfident in this area than older employees.
On the downside, the adults who are overconfident about their financial literacy tend to elect to have less money set aside from their paychecks for retirement and have smaller plan balances than their less self-assured peers.
On other issues, the Narpp study added more to the growing pile of statistics showing men are better prepared for retirement than women. According to the report, 53 percent of men have calculated what they need post-employment while 39 percent of women did and 32 percent of men said they were confident they would have enough money to retire on versus only 24 percent for women.
Narpp said a warning sign for workers and the DC industry is that just 26 percent of participants feel they can always trust their plan recordkeepers to do what’s right.
In another matter, 44 percent claimed their plan investment menus are too complicated.
Study: Overconfidence Or Underconfidence Breeds Danger For Retirement Planning
January 20, 2014
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