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WSJ.com/Harris Interactive Survey: Sixty-Nine Percent of Employed U.S. Adults Receive Some Type of Retirement/Savings Benefit from Their Employer
A new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Personal Finance Poll found that sixty-nine percent of employed U.S. adults receive some type of retirement or other savings benefit from their employer and that just under half of employed adults (49%) can participate in a 401(k) plan. Thirty-six percent say their employer matches their 401(k) contributions and 29 percent have a pension plan. Thirteen percent have the opportunity to buy company stock and 9 percent can participate in their company's stock-option plan.
These are just some of the results of an online survey of 2,373 U.S. adults conducted by Harris Interactive(R) between April 11 and 13, 2007 for The Wall Street Journal Online.
Those with more education are in jobs that offer a greater variety of financial-planning and retirement-preparation opportunities and incentives. For example, 33 percent of employed respondents who are college graduates say their employer provides a generous company match toward 401(k) plan contributions, compared with 16 percent of those with high-school education or less. Further, one quarter of college grads say that their employer invites professionals to provide financial or retirement-planning workshops. Only eight percent of those with a high school education or less have this same opportunity.
When asked what factors they consider important when evaluating a potential employer, more than half (53%) of U.S. adults say they consider a comprehensive retirement-plan package to be extremely or very important, followed by the amount of vacation time offered (50%) and the diversity of 401(k) options important (50%). Just under half (48%) indicate the availability of telecommuting or flexible scheduling as important while thirty-one percent consider their employer's advice about retirement options and financial planning to be an important consideration. About one in four (22%) indicate whether the company has stock options is important in their evaluation.
Few U.S. adults say they base their retirement and financial planning decisions on advice from their employer. Forty-one percent of respondents say they make their investment and retirement planning decisions based on personal research or advice from family and friends, while 20 percent say they rely on financial advisers for guidance and only 3 percent rely on their employer. Further, nearly two-thirds (66%) say that their employers play a minor role or no role in their retirement preparations, compared with just 12 percent who say their employer plays a major role. As respondents earn more, they are more likely to say their employer played a major or important role in their retirement preparations, but even among respondents who earn more than $75K, 59 percent report that their employer played a minor/no role.
Natalie Jobity, Vice President of Financial Services for Harris Interactive, provides insight on this issue. "For many employees, their 401(k) plan is often their only retirement savings vehicle and many are confused or overwhelmed by the choices available to them. There is clearly a need for advice and guidance, especially among the younger workforce. Companies can play more of a role in employee retirement and financial planning especially if they offer more educational opportunities to help employees plan and use this as a strategy to retain, and possibly attract, talent."

  TABLE 1
  OFFERED BENEFITS- BY AGE

  "Businesses typically offer a number of different benefits to their
  workers. Which, if any, of the following benefits does your company
  provide to you?"

  Base: Employed Respondents


                                         Total               Age
                                                 18-34  35-44  45-54    55+

                                           %       %      %      %      %
  Receives Benefits Through Employer       69      64     74     74     63
  (NET)
  Insurance, such as life insurance,
   disability insurance, long-term         56      50     57     62     56
   care insurance or worker's
   compensation
  Retirement savings, for example, a       49      40     59     55     44
   401(k) plan
  My employer matches my 401(k)            36      31     41     42     28
   contributions.
  Pension plan                             29      15     30     38     40
  Company stock                            13      14     11     11     16
  Equity compensation plans such as         9       8      7      8     13
   stock options plans
  Other                                    11      15     10     11      6
  I do not receive benefits through        31      36     26     26     37
   my employer.

  Note: Multiple Response Question


  TABLE 2
  FINANCIAL/RETIREMENT PLANNING ENCOURAGEMENT- BY EDUCATION
  "Which, if any, of the following does your company do to encourage
  employee financial planning and retirement preparation?"

  Base: Employed Respondents


                                                        Education
                                           Total    H.S.    Some    Col.
                                                    or      Col.    Grad+
                                                    Less
                                             %       %       %       %
  Employer Encourages Financial
  Planning/Retirement Preparation            58      45      58      69
  (NET)
  Offers employees diverse
   options within 401(k)/pension             30      22      29      37
   plans
  Provides a generous company
   match towards 401(k)                      27      16      32      33
   contributions
  Provides print materials about
   the company offerings and                 25      14      27      32
   options
  Provides frequent
   communications about the                  23      16      25      27
   benefits of investing and
   401(k) participation
  Invites professionals to
   provide financial or retirement           17       8      17      25
   planning workshops
  Encourages employees to take
   classes or attend seminars to             16       9      15      22
   become more informed about
   their finances and long-term
   financial planning
  Encourages participation in the            10       10     11       9
   company stock option plan
  Encourages participation in                 8        3      9      10
   Roth IRAs
  Provides an attractive stock                6        5      6       6
   option package
  Other                                       9        8      8      10
  My employer does not encourage
   employee financial planning and           42       55     42      31
   retirement preparation.

  Note: Multiple Response Question

  TABLE 3
  LONG TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING MANAGEMENT- BY AGE
  "How do you typically manage your long term financial planning?"

  Base: All Respondents


                                         Total               Age
                                                18-34   35-44   45-54    55+
                                           %      %       %       %      %
  Have Investments/Plan To Retire          75     64      70      79     85
  (NET)
  I make my own investment and
   retirement planning decisions           41     40      42      40     43
   based on personal research or
   advice from family and friends.
  I rely on financial advisors             20     11      18      23     27
   for advice and guidance.
  I rely on my employer for                 3      4       4       2      2
   advice and guidance.
  Other                                    11     10       6      14     13
  I don't have any investments/I           25     36      30      21     15
   don't plan to retire


  TABLE 4
  IMPORTANCE OF BENEFITS- BY AGE
  "How important are the following employee benefits to you when evaluating
  a potential employer?"
  Summary of Extremely/Very Important

  Base: All Respondents


                                     Total                Age
                                            18-34   35-44    45-54      55+
  Offers comprehensive
   retirement plan                     53     46      45       64       58
   packages
  The amount of vacation               50     55      50       59       40
   time offered
  Offers a variety of
   investment options in               50     50      45       54       50
   its 401(k)/pension
   plan
  The availability of
   telecommuting or                    48     55      47       50       39
   flexible scheduling
   work arrangements
  Offers advice about
   retirement options and              31     29      21       32       38
   financial planning
  Whether the company                  22     18      13       26       29
   offers stock options

  Note: Multiple Response Question


  TABLE 5A
  ROLE OF EMPLOYER IN RETIREMENT PREPARATION- BY AGE
  "In general, how large a role has your company played in your retirement
  preparation?"

  Base: Employed Respondents


                                  Total                   Age
                                           18-34    35-44    45-54      55+
                                    %        %        %        %        %
  Major/Important Role              34       30       34       43       30
  (NET)
     A major role                   12       10       11       17       11
     An important but               22       19       23       26       19
     not major role
  Minor/No Role (NET)               66       70       66       57       70
     A minor role                   25       23       30       21       27
     No role at all                 41       47       37       36       43


  TABLE 5B
  ROLE OF EMPLOYER IN RETIREMENT PREPARATION- BY INCOME
  "In general, how large a role has your company played in your retirement
  preparation?"

  Base: Employed Respondents


                                                       Income
                                 Total    Less     $35K      $50K
                                          Than       -         -       $75K+
                                          $35K     $49.9K    $74.9K
                                   %       %        %         %         %
  Major/Important Role             34      20       38        39        41
  (Net)
     A major role                  12       9       17        13        13
     An important but              22      11       21        26        28
  not major role
  Minor/No Role (Net)              66      80       62        61        59
     A minor role                  25      17       24        29        30
     No role at all                41      63       38        32        29

Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the United States between April 11 to 13, 2007 among 2,373 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.
With a pure probability sample of 2,373 one could say with a ninety-five percent probability that the overall results would have a sampling error of +/-3 percentage points. Sampling error for data based on sub-samples may be higher and may vary. However, that does not take other sources of error into account. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no theoretical sampling error can be calculated.
Web site:
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/
http://www.wsj.com/

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