How Can You Help Your Gen X Employees Prepare for Retirement?
Jamie Hayes, C(k)P, CPFA, AIF®
Sr. Vice President @ NFP Retirement Division | Retirement Planning
Generation X, people who are ages 35 to 49, are much less confident they will have enough savings for retirement, according to a survey conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of Scottrade, Inc. Only 19 percent of Gen Xers are extremely confident they’ll have enough money for retirement. More than one-half (56 percent) say they plan to work in retirement. In addition, almost a third (29 percent) of Gen Xers worry about losing their jobs, and over a quarter (26 percent) say educational expenses, either for themselves or for their children, is a top financial priority. All of these concerns can affect your employees’ success at planning for retirement and also affect the success of your employer retirement plan.
Financial stress
As a retirement plan sponsor, you want to help your employees plan for a successful retirement and achieve financial wellness. While financial wellness is important to all your employees, Generation X’s financial insecurity makes these programs particularly important to this group. It affects your employees’ productivity and even their health, which impacts your company’s bottom line.
According to PwC’s 2015 Employee Financial Wellness Survey, 24 percent of Gen Xers report that their personal finances have been a distraction at work (compared to 13 percent of Baby Boomers). More than one-third (37 percent) of all employees say they spend three or more hours thinking about or dealing with personal financial issues at work.
Financial wellness
Your retirement plan’s success is important to FiduciaryFirst, and the first step to having happy, productive employees is financial wellness. We rely on behavioral finance to help your Generation X employees, and the rest of your workforce, face their psychological obstacles and make better financial decisions. As your 401(k) plan advisor, we’ll work with you to structure a retirement plan that helps your employees pursue their personal financial and retirement goals, and addresses their insecurities through behavioral finance, financial literacy education, and other strategies. If you’d like more information on helping your Gen X employer retirement plan, call us at 866-625-4611.
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9yKind of sad stats on where we expect to be at traditional "retirement age". Trying to get our younger team members to understand what awaits them in the future if they don't save now and learn to live on less than they earn, sometimes seems like a waste of breath! But then I see a few of them start to up their 401K contributions and hope is alive again! Thanks for the article Jamie Hayes, QPFC, C(k)P, AIF®! I think the more we can talk about it, the more we can help them see and prepare for the future so they WON'T have to be working "in retirement"!