Plan Sponsors Ask…
Q. We’d like to bolster our 401(k) plan participation and contribution numbers. What are some of the reasons people don’t participate or don’t contribute enough?
A. That has been the subject of recent research by the Pew Charitable Trusts. They looked at employer and employee perspectives on saving, and made some interesting findings. Read More »
Yikes! 30% of Workers Can’t Answer This…Can You?
One third of workers don’t know the answer to this simple question about their retirement savings: Now that you’ve saved for retirement, what are you going to do with the money? Click here for more details, and tips on what you should be thinking about for your retirement savings.
How Important Are Retirement Savings? very, verrrry, VERY!!
How important is saving for retirement? The Social Security Administration’s new study makes the answer pretty clear: very.
The biennial “Income of the Aged” report released this spring examines the retirement income of more than 34 million households, married and single, to produce a financial snapshot of those 65 and older in 2014, the most recent available data.
Savers have nearly doubled the annual income in retirement than nonsavers.
When a household is reduced to one person, income may decrease dramatically.
Income often decreases as a household ages.
Click here to read more about why savings now matter, especially for women.
You Can’t Afford to “Wing It” When It Comes to Retirement!
Having a written plan makes it more likely you will stick to your plan.
You’ve heard this before: Failing to plan is planning to fail. This couldn’t be more true than when it comes to retirement. According to a recent survey conducted by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS), more than one-third (37 percent) of workers don’t have any strategy for their retirement. These people are truly winging it…leaving their futures to chance.
The study also found that almost half (47 percent) of all workers have a strategy, but it’s not written down. Such a plan is better than nothing, but most likely it’ll be incomplete.
Fewer than one in five workers (16 percent) have a written plan, which is ideal. Research in behavioral economics shows that having a written strategy increases a person’s commitment to carrying out the plan.
So what should go into a successful retirement strategy? Read more, and check out additional links, from MoneyWatch’s Steve Vernon.
Plan Sponsors Ask…
Q: Women are better retirement savers but still lag behind men in outcomes. What gives?
A: Indeed, there is a noteworthy imbalance in retirement wealth accumulation among men and women. Men consistently come out ahead, despite women’s superior savings behaviors.
Women are more likely to save, but men have higher account balances, according to a Vanguard white paper. Its data shows that women are 14% more likely than men to participate in their employer-sponsored retirement plan. Further, once enrolled, women save at higher rates—typically 7%-16% higher than men. Don’t “autopilot” provisions like auto-enrollment equalize things? On the participation front, yes; for savings, no. Among auto-enroll plan participants, men and women participate at similar rates, but men defer at 5% higher rates. Moreover, women are conscientious savers, and auto-enrollment provides them an advantage. Sixty percent fall into lower wage brackets than men, but lower-income individuals experience more positive impacts on savings due to auto-enrollment. What’s more, higher incomes cancel out default features. Among male Vanguard participants, average wages were 25% higher, accounting for higher contribution rates by men in auto-enroll plans. In voluntary-enroll plans, women save at 6% higher rates. Vanguard’s paper highlights a lingering income disparity between men and women and shows that American employers have more work to do to close the gender gap in retirement outcomes.
Read more at http://tinyurl.com/WomenAreBetterSavers.
Q: Many younger participants are simultaneously saving for retirement and paying off student loans. How do we help them successfully accomplish both?
A: Putting off retirement savings to pay down student loans is among the biggest financial mistakes younger workers can make.
In fact, LIMRA found that a 22-yearold with $30,000 in student loan debt could have $325,000 less in savings at retirement than his or her debt-free counterpart. So what’s a plan sponsor to do? Emphasize holistic financial well-being by:
• Encouraging DC plan participants to make the minimum monthly payments on their student loans, and also reminding them to save enough in their retirement plan to get matching contributions. According to Financial Engines, 1 in 4 employees don’t take advantage of the match, meaning they’re leaving up to $43,000 on the table over 20 years.
• Emphasizing creating an emergency fund for unforeseen expenses so they won’t be tempted to borrow from their retirement account or use credit cards.
• Advising them to direct any remaining funds strategically, either by paying down high interest student loans or investing more into their retirement portfolios and putting the money to work through compounding.
• Encouraging participants to stash that extra cash in their retirement accounts once their debt is paid off. Many experts say workers should be saving 15% of their income by age 25 to ensure a comfortable retirement.
Visit http://tinyurl.com/LIMRAStudentLoanResearch and
http://tinyurl.com/StudentDebtVsRetirement to find out more about helping workers save for retirement while paying off student loans.
For plan sponsor use only, not for use with participants or the general public. This information is not intended as authoritative guidance or tax or legal advice. You should consult with your attorney or tax advisor for guidance on your specific situation.
Kmotion, Inc., 412 Beavercreek Road, Suite 611, Oregon City, OR 97045; www.kmotion.com © 2016 Kmotion, Inc. This newsletter is a publication of Kmotion, Inc., whose role is solely that of publisher. The articles and opinions in this publication are for general information only and are not intended to provide tax or legal advice or recommendations for any particular situation or type of retirement plan. Nothing in this publication should be construed as legal or tax guidance; nor as the sole authority on any regulation, law or ruling as it applies to a specific plan or situation. Plan sponsors should consult the plan’s legal counsel or tax advisor for advice regarding plan-specific issues.
There’s still time for 2016 tax savings…but it is running out!!
With proper 401(k) retirement plan design techniques, clients can reduce taxes, improve owner benefits, and lower employee costs:
$53,000 individual deduction limits for 401(k)/profit sharing plans. If 50 or older, up to $59,000 can be funded into 401(k).
Contributions of up to $300,000 for small business owners in Defined Benefit plans (depends on age and service).
IRS tax credit of $500 per year for the first 3 years of the plan for installation and administrative costs if your client has employees.
Uni-K plan to maximize deductions for self-employed, owner-only or owner-spouse business owners with low W-2 wages (i.e. deduct $28,000 with only $40,000 in wages; if 50 or older, deduction increases to $34,000.
DON’T DELAY: Plans must be adopted by December 31, 2016 (but plans don’t have to be funded until 2017).
