Fewer than one-fifth of surveyed employers are very confident their employees will achieve a financially secure retirement, according to a report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
In its 19th annual retirement survey of both employers and employees, "Employers: The Retirement Security Challenge," the center shows only 17% of employers feel that level of confidence that their employees will be secure, while 54% said they are somewhat confident, 23% are not too confident and 6% say they are not at all confident.
Meanwhile, 49% of surveyed workers plan to live at least to the age of 80, compared to 8% that plan to live up to age 79 or below. Forty-three percent of surveyed workers are "not sure" how long they will live.
"As people live longer, we need to rethink the amount of time spent in the workforce and in retirement. Mathematically, it is challenging for workers to spend 30 to 40 years in the workforce and save enough for a retirement that could easily last 20, 30 or more years," said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute and the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, in a news release. "Most workers want and need to extend their working lives into older age with the flexibility to transition into retirement. However, their ability to do so is highly dependent on their employers."
The Harris Poll, on behalf of TCRS, surveyed 1,825 executives responsible for their companies' employee benefits Nov. 9 to Dec. 7 in 2018, and 5,923 full-time or part-time non-self-employed workers from Oct. 26 to Dec. 11 in 2018.
The report is available on the center's website.