However, there is substantial risk in this strategy since many current retirees were forced into retirement earlier than they expected due conditions that were out of their control, such as health problems or a company downsizing. So working longer may not be an option for many respondents, according to Greenwald.
Employer-sponsored retirement savings plans are the primary way workers save, with 82 percent of employees contributing to a plan, if it is offered.
If those respondents not currently offered a retirement savings plan were automatically enrolled into one, most would continue the contribution, according to the survey. Forty-two percent report they would continue the contribution as is, and 35 percent would increase it.
Workers who participate in an employee-sponsored plan are considerably more likely than those who don’t to have saved at least $50,000, according to the survey.
“Knowing how much to save for retirement is a complex calculation, and the Retirement Confidence Survey shows the difficulty workers have in deciding how much to save and the risks they are subjecting themselves to if they don’t. More effective actions by employers can help a great deal in getting workers to save and encouraging them to save more,” says Greenwald.
The survey was conducted in January 2013 with 1,254 individuals age 25 and older in the United States, The RCS is co-sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization, and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc., a Washington, DC-based market research firm.