Yes, it’s rather bold of me to presume you have an issue when it comes to retirement savings (and planning). But check out these stats:
- According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, just 53% of American workers participate in any type of retirement plan at work.
- A recent TIAA-CREF survey found that 57% of workers did not increase their plan contribution after their last raise. (Millennials were the exception.)
- The Federal Reserve’s Report on Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2013 reports that nearly half of all Americans haven’t planned for retirement and that 31% have no retirement savings or pension.
Given these numbers, I feel pretty confident in my ascertion. Especially when you also tack on the finding from the financial research firm, Hearts and Wallets, that Americans rate retirement planning as the most difficult of financial tasks to do.
You’re probably not getting as much as you could from your retirement account.
A Little History
Today, in general, and at this time of year, in particular, there’s so much talk about 401ks and retirement planning that it is easy to forget that this part of the financial services industry is young – as in approximately 30 years old.
For a variety of business and regulatory reasons, companies started migrating from defined-benefit plans to defined contribution plans in the 1970s. The former guaranteed you a certain income in retirement, but how your money was invested in the pension plan was wholly controlled by your employer. With the latter, you control everything – from how much of your current income you contribute to how you invest/allocate your contribution. That also means, the amount of income you’ll receive in retirement from your 401k rests entirely on your shoulders.
And more often that not, that responsibility comes with very little personalized guidance. Hence, the sobering stats above.
But I believe there are other reasons for these jaw-dropping percentages:
- Retirement planning doesn’t feel urgent
If you have 20, 30, 40 years until you plan to retire, it can seem like you have all the time in the world because 65 (or 70) seem so far away. So, you get that retirement savings and planning are necessary. But it just doesn’t feel urgent. - Economic realities are not factored in…on a personal level
You very well may be one of the people whom hasn’t seen a raise in five years (or more!). Yet, your cost of living certainly hasn’t stayed stagnant. So, your challenge is being able to *see* how the heck you can save against the backdrop of flat wages and rising expenses. - Forecasting the future is overwhelming
“How can I know how much income I’ll need when I retire?” “How can I know how long I’ll need that income to last?” “Will my retirement expenses really go down?” “What about healthcare costs?” The premise of retirement planning is based on a variety of uncontrollable unknowables. And if making decisions amidst so much ambuguity seems futile, the alternative of sticking your head in the sand actually seems more feasible
There’s An Alternative
Think about how you currently manage your retirement account?
What would be different if you considered it necessary and urgent?
If you’re in the 47%, what would be different if you started with just 1% of your income?
If you’re in the 43%, what would happen if you made the commitment to save your next raise by assigning some or all of it to your retirement account?
What would happen if you were shown a clear cut process for investing in your retirement account?
Can you now imagine retirement savings (and planning) being easier? Can you now imagine having more confidence about your decision-making?
I can…and it is what I want for you.
There’s still time to join us for the investment training series, “What the Hell Should I Do With My 401k?”
Click here if you want more confidence and want to see your investments pay off over time.
The next live class is Monday, 3 November at 8pm ET.
p.s. when you register, you’ll automatically get the replay link for the session held on Monday, 27 October.
p.p.s. this series is applicable if you have a 403b, IRA, Roth-IRA, SIMPLE-401k or SEP, too.
