Nationwide: Younger Adults Value Guarantees

By staff Writer

June 29, 2010 at 08:00 PM

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Most U.S. adults ages 18 to 44 say they like the idea of employer 401(k) plan matching contributions going into an investment vehicle that will produce a guaranteed stream of retirement income.

Nationwide Financial Services Inc., a unit of Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, Columbus, Ohio, has published that finding in a summary of results from an April telephone survey of 1,007 U.S. adults ages 18 and older.

Nationwide itself has proposed that 401(k) plan program rules change to specify that employer matching contributions should be used to create a guaranteed income stream.

In recent weeks, Congress, the U.S. Labor Department and the U.S. Treasury Department have looked into the possibility of creating and expanding use of lifetime income mechanisms within retirement plans. Some consumers have criticized the reviews, suggesting that the government may want to use changes in 401(k) plan rules to seize control of plan assets.

Nationwide says it has found that 77% of U.S. adults polled like its proposal to use matching contributions to create guaranteed income streams, and that 85% of survey participants ages 18 to 44 said they like that approach.

About 72% of participating U.S. adults said they agree that the 401(k) system should be adapted to include features that offer guaranteed income at the point of retirement.

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