New Pentegra Retirement Services Poll Reveals Most Common Retirement Savings Regrets and Advice

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 23, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- A survey released today, commissioned by Pentegra Retirement Services and conducted online by Harris Poll in March 2016 among adults who are retired and who do not have a pension, shows 94% have advice about retirement to offer those younger than them, particularly stressing the importance of saving early and saving more throughout one's career. In addition, the survey revealed the most common regrets that retirees have when looking back on how they saved, with "saving earlier in my work life" as the top misgiving. 

According to retirement planning expert Rich Rausser, Senior Vice President at Pentegra Retirement Services, "We are not surprised by the results of our poll, as they are in line with what we have been advising all along. People wish they started saving earlier in their working life and had paid closer attention to preparing for retirement when they were younger. And they advise younger workers to find small ways to save. This advice is critical. However, people still seem to be unable to implement these recommendations. Our hope is that if people hear this now from actual retirees – not just retirement experts -- then it will put fire under them to put a solid plan into place today." 

Survey result highlights:

• Among retired U.S. adults without a pension, 63% recommend those younger than them to save earlier in their career and 57% suggest saving more throughout their career. About half (51%) say to always contribute enough to their workplace retirement plan to qualify for employer matching contributions and 45% say to find small ways to save more.
• When it comes to advice, over a quarter (26%) say to delay taking Social Security benefits for as long as possible and roughly one-in-five (22%) say to work with a professional financial planner.
• Among retired U.S. adults without a pension asked to complete the sentence "When I look back on what I might have done differently with my retirement savings, I should have...," top responses are focused on saving with nearly two-in-five (39%) saying they should have started saving earlier in their working life and 35% say they should have saved more. Twenty nine percent say they should have paid more attention to preparing for retirement when they were younger.
• Retired individuals without a pension also place importance on investing with 13% each saying they should have done each of the following: invested more aggressively, taken the time to learn more about investing, and continued working longer.

Following the survey, Pentegra wanted to gather additional lessons learned directly from today's retirees, and created Beyond the SmartPath.  This new installment of the company's popular SmartPath series is designed to help inspire today's workers to take action. Beyond the SmartPath offers indispensable advice from interviews with retirees* on what they might have done differently as they looked back on their working years.

Rausser explains, "Among the most important and concurrent themes in the interviews we conducted for Beyond the SmartPath are: save more, start saving earlier, and invest in a more educated manner. These universal suggestions are from retirees who have worked in a variety of industries, have approached retirement in different ways, and are coming from different salaries.  Simple, consistent advice, yes, but people are not doing that."

To further promote this effort, Pentegra has introduced the hashtag #talkaboutretirement, designed to help encourage the dialogue among clients, partners, colleagues, family members, and friends in addition to industry professionals.

Pentegra Retirement Services is a leading provider of retirement plan and fiduciary outsourcing solutions to organizations nationwide. Founded by the Federal Home Loan Bank System in 1943, Pentegra offers a broad array of qualified and non-qualified retirement plan solutions, third party administration (TPA) services and benefits financing solutions using bank owned life insurance (BOLI). In addition, Pentegra, through Pentegra Investors, Inc., also serves the needs of institutional investors, offering partial or complete investment outsourcing capabilities. For more information, go to www.pentegra.com. Visit Pentegra on Facebook at www.facebook.com/PentegraRetirementServices.    

Media Contact:  Rodi Rosensweig, [email protected]; 203/270-8929

This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of Pentegra from February 25-March 2, 2016 among 443 retired individuals who do not have a pension. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. More at: www.pentegra.com/upload/HarrisTables2016.pdf  

* Via written responses and in-depth telephone interviews, Pentegra questioned respondents on a number of topics surrounding saving for retirement: How they approached the subject, what vehicles worked or underperformed for them vis-à-vis their expectations, how they view their post-retirement lifestyle, and what advice they have for people both starting their working lives and in mid-career. Respondents were drawn from a diverse pool, ranging from former bankers and other financial professionals to those working in the defense industry, education, and civil service, providing Pentegra with a capacious spectrum of experiences and incomes. In addition, our research included people from across the country, with all major geographical locations – the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, West, Southwest, and Pacific Northwest – represented.

SOURCE Pentegra Retirement Services

Related Links

http://www.pentegra.com