Survey: Investor Patience Wears Thinner As Market Sags

Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said a good benefits plan would be an incentive to improve their work performance; 77% said a good plan would keep them at their current place of employment.

The survey also tracked an emerging employee benefits trend: sabbaticals, or mid-career retirements.

Almost half of respondents indicated they would like to take a sabbatical, but cannot for financial reasons; because their employers would not give the approval; or other reasons.

More than 10% either have taken or plan to take a sabbatical, the survey finds. The foremost benefits concern of 85% of respondents regarding a sabbatical is maintaining health insurance coverage. Twenty-eight percent said maintaining life insurance is a primary concern; for 27%, maintaining defined contribution retirement plan benefits is a primary concern; for 18%, maintaining disability insurance is a primary concern.

“At a minimum, growing businesses today must offer competitive health and retirement benefits to attract and retain talent,” Houston says. “This is particularly true during periods of slow economic growth, when salaries can stagnate.

“Less-traditional benefits, such as sabbaticals, are being evaluated by key employees and should be reviewed by business owners,” he says.

The survey also found differences in the perception of financial well-being according to gender. For example, as a reaction to the aforementioned increase in retirement plan contribution limits, 22% of men plan to contribute more to both their IRAs and employer-sponsored retirement plans; only 11% of women plan to place more in their IRAs and 14% plan to save more in their employer-sponsored plans.

“Women outlive men by an average of seven years, which can impact retirement savings and health insurance greatly, and women have considerably lower lifetime earnings due to childbearing, family responsibilities and salaries of, on average, thirty percent less than men,” Houston says.

Fifty-four percent of male respondents said they are extremely happy with their current financial well-being; only 39% of female respondents feel that way.

Another survey finding is the increasing importance of long-term financial success. For the first time in three surveys, it was ranked equally with job security as most important of several statements by 44% of respondents. In the previous two indices, more respondents ranked job security as most important.

Reproduced from National Underwriter Life & Health/Financial Services Edition, September 10, 2001. Copyright 2001 by The National Underwriter Company in the serial publication. All rights reserved.Copyright in this article as an independent work may be held by the author.

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