The TIAA-CREF Institute is a sponsor of the 2005 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Mathew Greenwald & Associates, Inc. 2005 marks the 15th year for the RCS. This survey measures American worker's attitudes concerning retirement saving and planning, and examines their behavior to achieve their expressed retirement goals.
This year’s survey finds that 55 percent of workers believe they are behind schedule when it comes to planning and saving for retirement. Among these, most report high expenses as a major factor preventing them from saving, which include everyday expenditures (reported by 49 percent), child-rearing costs (39 percent), and medical costs (35 percent).
What would lead workers to save more through their retirement savings plans at work? Seventy-two percent of those not currently contributing to such a plan say that an employer-matching contribution of up to 5 percent of pay would make them more likely to participate. Other plan options that non-savers say would make them more likely to participate include an investment option that automatically becomes more conservative as their retirement date approaches (66 percent) and a feature that automatically raises contribution levels when participants receive a pay raise (55 percent). Sixty-six percent of current non-participants say they would likely remain in a retirement savings plan if they were automatically enrolled.
The survey covers other retirement issues such as workers' confidence in the Social Security system, workers' confidence in their retirement income prospects, their plans for retirement and their likelihood of having conducted their own retirement savings needs calculation.
The full 2005 RCS report can be found at www.ebri.org/rcs/2005/index.htm or click on the following documents for more details about the survey and its findings.
2005 RCS Press Release
2005 RCS EBRI Issue Brief (summary of findings)
Fact Sheet 1: What Might Make More Workers Save?
Fact Sheet 2: Saving for Retirement in America
Fact Sheet 3: Attitudes About Social Security and Medicare
Fact Sheet 4: Age Comparisons Among Workers
Fact Sheet 5: Gender Comparisons Among Workers
