Wellness@Work: What Employees Are Saying About Their Workplace Benefits

The Street

Watch Wellness@Work: What Employees Are Saying About Their Workplace Benefits - The Street on Dailymotion

Transcript

00:00This morning, wellness at work, what employees are saying about their workplace benefits.

00:10Joining me now to help break it all down, Maggie Younis is the head of consultant relations

00:15with Lincoln Financial. Maggie, so great to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this

00:19morning. Thank you, Jeff. Great to see you. Yeah, it's great to see you as well. And Lincoln always

00:24does so much research each and every year around so many different specialties. But today we're

00:30talking about retirement and the wellness at work study. First, can you give us a little bit of a

00:36background about the wellness at work study, how it works, who it covers, and then we can take it

00:41from there in terms of some of the key findings. Yeah, great. Thank you. So since 2012, Lincoln has

00:48been conducting proprietary research to hear directly from employees to learn more about

00:52their views and experiences. We've continued this research because we generally want to

00:58understand how people feel about their workplace benefits, retirement savings, and overall financial

01:04wellness. By investing in our own study, we're able to gather insights that help us better support

01:09our consultants, clients, and participants that we serve. This year's survey included more than

01:152,500 full-time workers spanning different industries and generations who are eligible to contribute to an

01:22employer-sponsored plan. And for today's workforce, financial confidence is critical. The study

01:28revealed that fewer than half of full-time employees feel financially secure. With rising debt,

01:34cost of living pressures, and competing priorities, we believe there are opportunities for employers to

01:40consider to help with financial confidence and improving retirement readiness.

01:44Well, as a follow-up to that, Maggie, how are you defining retirement readiness? And why is retirement

01:52readiness such a critical issue at this time? Yeah, so we really defined retirement readiness as the

01:59ability for someone to retire, you know, when they want to, to maintain their lifestyle and having that

02:05income to last throughout their lifetime. And that really, honestly, hasn't changed over the last few

02:10years with that study. And unfortunately, though, many employees still are not feeling confident about

02:16their ability to retire. Only 28% of workers are highly confident about their retirement readiness.

02:23Why 45% are afraid they'll never be able to retire, which is pretty shocking. And why we've seen

02:29retirement contributions rebound to 2021 levels after a decrease in 2023. 61% of plan participants still believe

02:38they're saving less than needed. And if you cut that data by industry, we also found that those in

02:45healthcare, education, and government still tend to save less. But the good news is that research shows

02:51there are steps that plan sponsors can take to help employees feel more confident about their retirement

02:57outlook, especially when it comes to addressing savings gaps and improving financial wellness.

03:03So, Maggie, when you look at the data, how, and, you know, there's different segments of the

03:07marketplace. How did retirement readiness vary across healthcare, education, and the government

03:13markets? What stood out? Yeah. So, across all industries, the survey respondents listed cost of

03:20living, unexpected expenses, and debt as the top barriers preventing them from saving more. For these

03:26three sectors in particular, though, debt is the major obstacle. Over 80% of workers across these three

03:33sectors are carrying debt, with more than half saying it's difficult to pay off debt while also

03:39saving for retirement. And healthcare workers in particular carry more student loan debt than any

03:44other industry. So, it's no surprise that they report more problematic debt than most.

03:50So, Maggie, let's talk a little bit more about the data. Did it reveal any gaps or challenges that

03:57consultants or advisors in these three sectors should be paying closer attention to?

04:03Yes. I think these results provide great insights for consultants to consider. At the highest level,

04:10workers across industries want investment options that simplify decisions and ease concerns about

04:16outliving savings. Healthcare, government, and education workers are no exception. The majority of workers in

04:23all three sectors expressed interest in managed accounts that personalize investment choices based

04:29on their goals, age, and income, and a need for ongoing professional support. Determining how much to save is

04:36the top priority for healthcare and education workers, while choosing investments that align with their goals

04:42had equal importance for government workers. The respondents from these three sectors also identified student loan debt,

04:49management support, and emergency savings accounts as benefits they'd have interest in.

04:55To put it simply, employees across all industries want more than basic coverage.

05:00They're looking for tools to reduce stress and improve their financial outlook.

05:04Employers play a key role by not only offering wellness solutions, but also promoting them across

05:11their benefit solutions. Consultants play an important role as well in helping these employers consider the impact

05:17that additional tools and options provide. So as a follow-up to that, how do you personally approach

05:24consultants about improving retirement outcomes for their clients? And how will this new research

05:31impact things like plan design, managed accounts, guaranteed income, and retirement consultants?

05:39Jeff, the study reinforces what we have been hearing in the field, but it's really not a one-size-fits-all

05:44approach as consultant firms have different philosophies and each client has different goals and needs.

05:50We focus on understanding what the client is looking to achieve and tailor a retirement program based

05:56on those needs in partnership with the consultant. We are talking more about automatic enrollment features

06:03and utilizing advisor managed accounts or traditional managed accounts as the QDIA to help facilitate better

06:09participant outcomes. But the most consistent conversation is around education and the desire for one-on-one interactions.

06:17We have seen an increase in engagement in the retirement plan, benefit adoption, and wellness tools

06:23when retirement education consultants are available. And consultants are looking for help.

06:28They're looking for partners who can also support education on multiple topics.

06:33Really gone are the days of talking about retirement in a vacuum. And this study shows so many factors are

06:40impacting retirement readiness and confidence. Yeah, I mean, it's certainly a lot. I mean,

06:45you have to be thinking about caregiving, long-term care, financial planning, retirement planning.

06:50You mentioned earlier that employers can take steps to improve the retirement outcomes in their plans.

06:58Could you expand a little bit more on what those strategies look like in actual practice?

07:04Yeah, so the study really shows that positive retirement saving habits can boost employee overall

07:10financial sense of security. Those who have put thought into envisioning what their retirement is going

07:16to look like, and if they have a specific retirement savings goal, they are more likely to feel completely or

07:22mostly secure financially. The key takeaway here is that employers should be encouraging employees to

07:28envision retirement, set goals, and engage with resources, while offering a comprehensive benefit

07:35package that can help employees to improve their financial wellness so they can save more.

07:40Employers can also offer investment solutions that provide that built-in support, such as guaranteed

07:46income that focus on turning savings into lasting retirement income, and managed accounts that offer

07:53that personalized investing aligned with those employee goals. Interest in guaranteed income is so high

08:00that both participants and non-participants shared that they would likely keep it if they were auto-enrolled

08:06into a product. And those who currently don't have it envisioned that it would help them worry less

08:12about outliving their savings. And they stress less about how much they're saving and can feel more confident

08:19about covering their basic living expenses in retirement.

08:24Well, you certainly don't want to outlive your money, and that's certainly a way to not outlive

08:28your money and to lower the stress, at least one stress of life. Let's end with how you mentioned

08:36the survey respondents have an interest in managed accounts and also retirement consultants.

08:42The data seems to indicate that there's a need for greater education support. Is that an accurate

08:48assessment? Absolutely. Employees lack confidence when it comes to retirement plan decision making. Only half

08:56are extremely or very confident about making decisions about their retirement plan, and only a third are

09:02very confident about determining how much to save. Accordingly, they're overwhelmingly interested in that

09:09personal education. For managed accounts, respondents indicated advice on how much to save and when to

09:16consider retiring, management by a professional money manager, and individualized recommendations

09:22as the most appealing aspects of the service. And in our survey, we use the term retirement consultant

09:29to represent personal help from a financial professional, someone who they can meet with one-on-one,

09:35to help an individual enroll in the plan, or make plan changes, and answer those retirement savings

09:40questions, and provide education around retirement planning. A retirement consultant could be a financial

09:47advisor servicing the plan, or someone working directly for the plan provider. For example, Lincoln

09:53employs retirement consultants who can offer support for participants and complement the services the

09:58advisor provides. The research results show that professional help can have a positive impact.

10:05Those working with a retirement consultant feel dramatically more confident about their decisions,

10:10with 80% extremely or very confident versus 50% who don't use a retirement consultant.

10:17Well, Maggie, certainly a very comprehensive report, and look, we just hit the very top of the report. There's so

10:23much more detail that people can certainly follow with you and other members of the Lincoln team.

10:28Thank you so much for joining us, and look, we look forward to having you back on the program again

10:32very soon. Thank you, Jeff. We appreciate the partnership. That's all for this morning. Until

10:38tomorrow, I'm Jeff Snyder. Stay safe, keep on saving, and don't forget, roll with the changes.

10:53We'll see you next time.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended