The 2018 Real Deal study sheds light on the most critical questions employers need to ask as they help employees prepare for a financially secure retirement:
- How much money do workers need to retire and maintain their standard of living? While every employee’s needs are different, the average employee needs to save about 11 times their final pay for adequate retirement at age 67.
- Are today’s workers prepared to meet their needs at retirement? Two in three U.S. workers are projected to fall well short of the target resources needed to maintain their standard of living at age 67.
- How much do employees need to save on top of what employers are providing in retirement income? On average, employees should have 16% of pay going into their retirement accounts every year to accumulate about 11 times pay by age 67. If an employee is receiving 6% from their employer, that means they would be responsible for the remaining 10%. Employees who save even more may increase their ability to retire early.
Employers need to address a combination of factors – including investment experience, longevity and retirement age – to help employees save more and invest their savings appropriately, but the employee’s savings rate is the greatest factor. The proportion of annual pay that people tend to save is 4 to 7 percent, which is often influenced by the amount required to receive a full employer match. Employees need help gaining a realistic sense of how much they need to save to achieve retirement goals. For example, if the average worker boosted their savings rate by 5 percentage points tomorrow, they would be close to an adequate retirement at age 67.
“Retirement readiness is ultimately about each individual's goals and resources, and every person's adequacy calculations are unique,” said Rob Reiskytl, a partner at Aon. “Providing information about how much one should save to reach their retirement goal can be a concrete way to set up employees for financial success in retirement. It is also important to remember the broader financial wellbeing picture and that there may be legitimate reasons why employees at certain ages aren’t saving ‘enough.’”
The study also highlights individuals who are on track for retirement. Specifically, two out of three workers with a defined benefit plan are on track to retire on time, as well as half of employees over the age of 50.
“Employers have a big opportunity to help their employees determine the best savings plan, providing them with tools like financial wellbeing programs and budgeting systems, and educating them on being financially-savvy can all help close the retirement readiness gap,” said Reiskytl.
The Real Deal Retirement Adequacy study provides insight into the overall retirement readiness of U.S. workers with access to retirement plans, based on data from both private-sector plan sponsors and public sources across nearly 30 industries. The study also serves as a benchmark for employers to measure the effectiveness and sufficiency of their programs.
For more information or to download the full report, please visit http://www.aon.com/retirement-readiness-savings-income-adequacy-the-real-deal.