Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
March 14, 2016 at 08:26 AM
When American workers with significant assets in their defined contribution plan had to decide what to do with the money after they left full-time employment, 62% in a recent survey moved it out of the plan, and the vast majority did so with the help of an advisor.
Slightly more than half of those who left their money in the plan had professional advice.
The American College of Financial Services, which offers coursework for the certified financial planner designation among others, in October polled 1,002 Americans recruited through the Research Now online panel.
To participate, respondents had to be at least 60 years old, to have retired from full-time work within the past three years and to have had at least $75,000 invested in their former employer’s 401(k) or 403(b) plan at the time of retirement.
IRA rollover activity will continue even as the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule is about to go into effect.
The American College’s survey focused on how respondents decided what to do with their money, and how well they did this.
Seventy percent of retirees said the probability of improving performance was the main reason they rolled over their assets, and 68% said it was to consolidate assets.
Two-thirds of those who kept their money in the retirement plan said they liked the investment options. Nearly half of these retirees said it was easier to leave things as they were.
“The good news here is that the retirement income message is breaking through,” The American College’s co-director David Littell said in a statement. “The vast majority of consumers we surveyed recognized the importance of the rollover decision and were careful with their decision making.”
