PLANADVISER - March/April 2012

trendspotting
A Leg Up

Those who work with a
financial adviser better at
retirement planning

TWO-THIRDS (66%) of those who work with a financial adviser have an understanding of how much of their retirement savings they will withdraw annually at retirement.

According to the 2011 Franklin Templeton Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations survey, among the Americans who have never worked with a financial adviser, only 36% said they know how much they will withdraw annually from their retirement savings. In addition, more than one-third (35%) of those who have never worked with an adviser said they do not think about how they will approach different sources of retirement income.

The survey showed that 79% of Americans do not work with a financial adviser, but nearly half (47%) of respondents said they would consider going to one or switching their current adviser if they found one who prepared a written retirement income plan.

“A large number of Americans are not currently enlisting the help of a financial adviser, in many cases because they think they don’t have

enough money to warrant working with one,” says David McSpadden, senior vice president of Global Advisory Services for Franklin Templeton Investments. “The fact is, most Americans do want to retire at some point, but they may be missing a key resource for helping to determine how they will get there.”

Investors in TDFs More Secure
About Retirement

ACCORDING to a study from ING U.S., 71% of target-date investors indicated that target-date funds made them feel more confident they were making sound investment decisions. When asked about various features available in these funds, all respondents showed a strong preference for those that are managed by multiple investment managers and provide a guaranteed income stream at retirement. More than nine in 10 (93%) target-date investors and nearly three-quarters (71%) of those who do not use them would want a target-date fund that provides stronger protection against market losses in the years leading up to and including retirement. Additionally, eight in 10 (80%) respondents using target-date funds and two-thirds (66%) of those not using them would prefer less market risk at that stage of the investment cycle.

— Tara Cantore

Additional findings from the
survey included:
• Of the respondents not using an
adviser, 41% said it is because they do
not think they have enough money to
need one, and 30% said it is because
they prefer to do it themselves.

• Thirty-eight percent who have never worked with a financial adviser say Social Security will provide the most income during retirement— twice as many as those who work with a financial adviser (19%).

• While 35% of respondents who have never worked with an adviser indicated that running out of money is their top concern, among those who have worked with a financial adviser (currently or in the past), that same concern fell to 24%.

The Franklin Templeton Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations survey was conducted online among a sample of 2,046 adults, comprising 1,020 men and 1,026 women 18 years of age or older.