General financial education, in addition to education specific to 401(k) plans, can encourage employees to save more for retirement. Topics like budgeting, debt management and reduction, and finding ways to save on household purchases may allow employees to feel more confidence in contributing more of their income to the plan. In turn, that can lead to improved retirement readiness. (more…)
The dust hasn’t yet settled, but a few things about the new tax law seem clear. Employees will likely begin to notice a difference in their paychecks as early as February, and some projections put the average worker’s additional spendable income at about $2,000 per year.
The dust hasn’t yet settled, but a few things about the new tax law seem clear. Employees will likely begin to notice a difference in their paychecks as early as February, and some projections put the average worker’s additional spendable income at about $2,000 per year.
What they will do with that income remains to be seen. While many will be tempted to improve their standard of living through purchases, you may be able to encourage them to take a longer view. As the increase in take-home pay is beginning to kick in, now could be the perfect time to point out reasons to increase retirement savings. Better yet, it might be the right time to amend the plan to allow for automatic increases in deferral amounts. (more…)
In general, women need more and save less money for retirement than do men. Overall, women accumulate less money for retirement than men, yet because they have a longer lifespan, the need for savings is greater. And because men die earlier, women may live out the end of life in a single income household.
The reasons women save less may be that they go in and out of the workforce to care for a family, work part time, and work in jobs that are more flexible and often, therefore, pay less. A study (Planning and Financial Literacy: How Do Women Fare?, Annamaria Lusardi and Olivia S. Mitchell, National Bureau Of Economic Research, January 2008) found there is also a difference in financial knowledge between the sexes, which can result in a too-conservative approach to investing. (more…)
