National anxiety about retirement security continues to grow, and the vast majority of Americas believe all workers should have a pension plan, according to a new report from the National Institute for Retirement Security.
According to the report, 79% of respondents to a national public opinion poll of working-age Americans believe that the nation faces a retirement crisis, up from 67% that expressed that sentiment in 2020, the last time NIRS conducted such a poll.
Also, 83% of respondents said they believe all workers should have a pension plan, and 77% said the disappearance of pension plans makes it harder to "achieve the American dream."
"A financially secure retirement is out of reach for many Americans, and our research finds workers are increasingly troubled by their retirement outlook," said Dan Doonan, NIRS executive director and co-author of the report, in a Feb. 27 news release.
That feeling is expressed in 87% of respondents saying "leaders in Washington don't understand how hard it is for workers to save retirement," according to the report. That is up from 76% that replied with that answer in 2020.
Doonan cited the recent announcement of International Business Machines Corp., Armonk, N.Y., that it would reopen its pension plan as evidence that the "ground indeed is shifting" in terms of the nationwide sentiment regarding pension plans.
The IBM Personal Pension Plan had been closed to new hires since 2005 and frozen to benefit accruals since 2008. In November, the company announced it was scrapping its 401(k) corporate match and replacing it with a cash balance component called a retirement benefit account, which is part of the defined benefit plan.
"Other employers could follow suit driven by their desire to provide retirement benefits in the most cost-efficient manner possible, employees' preferences for reliable lifetime income, and a critical need to recruit and retain workers in an increasingly tight labor market," Doonan said.
When asked whether pension plans were better than 401(k) plans in achieving retirement security, 65% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed, the same response as in the 2020 survey.
The NIRS report also cited the 2023 Social Security trustees report indicated that the main trust showed the fund's reserved will be depleted in 2033, one year earlier than the 2022 estimate.
"The research also tells us that Americans don't want Congress to kick the can down the road when it comes to ensuring the long-term sustainability of Social Security. Americans want action now," Doonan said. "This isn't surprising because Social Security is a highly successful government program that is both popular and essential for millions of older Americans. Delaying decisions on funding only creates more financial anxiety for Americans and makes an eventual solution more expensive."
Eighty-seven percent of respondents said Congress should act immediately to shore up Social Security funding.
Greenwald Research surveyed 1,208 individuals aged 25 older between Oct. 10 and Oct. 25 on behalf of the NIRS.
The report is available on NIRS' website.
