Millennials Want Employer Help With Financial Matters

Forty-three percent of Millennials say they need help managing saving for retirement, while 40% want help with good general savings habits.

Broadly, Millennials are positive about the future with 70% optimistic about their financial prospects; however, this optimism is tempered with concerns about their ability to meet all of their financial goals, according to a supplement report to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s 2017 Workplace Benefits Report.

The research finds that Millennials’ sense of realism about their situation leads to a generation of employees who are more engaged with their finances. Millennials want help that goes beyond retirement topics and empowers them to more effectively manage their finances today, while still saving for the future. They also tend to be more engaged and participate at higher levels in employer-sponsored savings plans and want to get help with financial matters in the workplace.

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Millennials expect that 65% of their retirement income will come from personal sources, compared to 55% for Generation Xers and 40% for Baby Boomers. Millennials also expect that 24% of their retirement income will come from continued work, compared to 19% for Generation Xers and 13% for Baby Boomers.

Forty-three percent of Millennials say they need help managing their efforts to save for retirement, while 40% want help with good general savings habits. Thirty-eight percent want help with paying down or managing debt, and 31% want help with budgeting.

Nearly half (48%) of Millennials want their employers to provide access to a financial professional to create a personalized financial strategy; 46% want employers to bring in financial experts to provide general training and education about financial matters; and 45% want education and training tailored to age or current financial issues they’re facing.

Millennials also say they want help via multiple channels: online, in-person, on a mobile device, in a seminar at work and online webinars.

More findings can be found in “A Closer Look at Millennials.”

Debt in Retirement Affects Confidence

Only half of retirees with debt are confident they will be able to live the lifestyle they want, but 70% of retirees without debt are confident.

Americans think it is bad thing for those in retirement to be carrying debt, the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute found in a survey.

However, data from the New York Fed Consumer Credit Panel indicates that those between the ages of 65 and 80 increased their debt load by 40% between 2003 and 2015.

The LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute found that 51% of retirees with debt are confident they will be able to live the lifestyle they want, but for retirees without debt, that soars to 70%.

Sixty-six percent of Americans view a mortgage held during one’s working years as “good” debt, but only 40% think this is true for those in retirement. Two-thirds (66%) of Americans do not think it is a good idea for people to carry mortgage debt into retirement.

LIMRA also discovered that Government Accountability Office (GAO) data shows that the number of student loan borrowers 65 or older rose 385% between 2005 and 2015. In that period of time, the amount of student loan debt people in this age group carry ballooned from $2 billion to nearly $22 billion. Retirees who default on federal student loan debt can see their Social Security payments partially garnished. In fact, GAO found that in 2015, 5% of those 65 and older are facing this reality.

The LIMRA survey found that 81% think having student loan debt in retirement is a negative. Seventy percent also think that it is unwise for a retiree to be carrying credit card debt. LIMRA’s survey is discussed in a recent blog on its website here

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