LIMRA survey points to use of retirement projections

The survey adds that men are more likely than women to find projections helpful (42 percent vs. 34 percent). The 7 percent of respondents who do not find projections useful point to the following reasons:

• Estimates are too hypothetical (38 percent);
• Not confident in the accuracy of the projections’ results (31 percent);
• Unable to save enough for retirement (22 percent);
• The estimates don’t capture all retirement savings (17 percent);
• The calculations underpinning the projections are too confusing (14 percent);
• The projections’ results are too scary (9 percent);
• Not interested in thinking about retirement.

“Providing an estimate of what their monthly income will be in retirement has been well received by most U.S. workers,” says Alison Salka, corporate vice president and research director for the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute. “The study suggests that workers are interested in a clear explanation of how the estimates were calculated and need additional information to provide context to the projections.

“Many consumers do not have a good idea what their currently monthly income or expenses are — a prior SRI study found that nearly a quarter felt they needed help with basic budgeting skills,” adds Salka. “This coupled with unknowns like inflation and taxes can make any retirement projections seem abstract.”