Most 401(k) plan participants are unprepared to mange their retirement accounts, concluded the authors of John Hancock Financial Services’ annual defined contribution plan participant survey.
According to the survey, conducted for Hancock by Matthew Greenwald Associates, 50% of participants spend six hours or less a year managing or monitoring their portfolios. Also, about 50% of participants have determined how much money they will need at retirement; 50% have an asset allocation plan; and 33% are taking steps to maintain an appropriate investment mix.
The 60% of participants who indicated they knew what average annual return to expect from their 401(k) accounts were extremely optimistic about their investment returns. For example, these participants anticipate a 19% average annual return for equities, 13% for bonds, 12% for money market funds and 11% for stable-value options over the next 20 years.
