07 Apr More Time Spent Finding A Restaurant Than Planning An IRA

Source: United Benefit Advisors (UBA)

Where do you want to eat? It’s a question heard every day and Employee Benefit News featured an article that stated, according to TIAA-CREF’s annual IRA survey, adults in the U.S. spend more time choosing a restaurant for a special occasion than they do for planning their IRA. Based on the data collected on the more 1,000 adults surveyed, only 15% spent two or more hours planning their IRA investment. Given that same amount of time, 25% said they’d instead select a restaurant, 21% allocated this to buying a flat screen TV, and 16% reported buying a tablet.

The cause of this is most likely that retirement planning can be confusing for individuals even though help can be found from advisers and online tools. In addition, employers who offer retirement plans have information to help educate employees about their options. Yet, employees seldom take the time necessary to investigate everything available to them.

One of the solutions to resolve this apparent apathy is to boost retirement education. This was based on the findings in the survey, where more than 30% of the respondents did not understand the difference between an IRA and an employer-sponsored plan. Worse, the lack of comprehension reached 45% for the Generation Y/Millennials population (people born in the early 1980s to the early 2000s).