PLANADVISER - Spring 2023 - 27

money into the retirement plan?
Advisers and the retirement industry
always said, " You can't afford not to
save for your retirement. " But now I'm
a contrarian with that. I think, right
now, if you have personal financial challenges,
you need to get those straight.
What employers can do to really help
here comes down to education, whether
there's a financial wellness coach or software or an adviser-
someone who could talk to them about proper budgeting,
what not to put on a credit card, etc.
How do they pay down that debt? I think that's the
biggest issue we're running into with interest rates going
up. If someone has a tremendous amount of debt, it doesn't
matter how much they save for their retirement; they still
have that debt to pay back. I'm really concerned about debt
management now.
PA: As Kim said, it's usually " Save-always save. " What is
your sense of things now?
Catherine Collinson: For context, Transamerica Center for
Retirement Studies does an annual retirement survey of
workers, appraising where they stand with their retirement
savings, their attitudes, beliefs, how well they're doing. In
almost 23 years of looking at retirement, what we've found
is it's a much bigger story-it's a holistic financial picture.
As Kim said, one thing the industry can do right now is
to offer education. Consistently we see that workers want
more information and guidance from their employer on how
to achieve their retirement goals,
[they want help understanding]
their financial big picture. Every provider already
has this education. It's a matter of getting it to the audience.
PA: We hear a lot from retirement plan advisers and plan
sponsors about that: participants' holistic wealth picture
and how that translates into when they can retire. How
can advisers and plan sponsors help guide people?
Bridget Bearden: Besides increasing awareness of educational
opportunities, as Kim and Catherine have mentioned,
they can by just increasing awareness overall of what it
means to be financially secure and how retirement savings
can contribute to that.
In regard to retirement age, our Spending and Retirement
Survey was fielded among retirees ages 62 to 75. More
than half said they retired earlier than expected. The most
common reasons were being able to financially, but also due
to a health condition or a disability. It's very important for
advisers and employers to be talking to the employees, not
just about what they've saved so far but about how their
bodies are handling their current workload.
" We also find that some retirees
move in and out of retirement,
especially those with physical
conditions that limit their ability
to work full time consistently. "
BRIDGET BEARDEN
Can they continue in a full-time capacity? And are any
family members disabled or in need of caregiving assistance,
because to help a family member or a loved one could also be
the reason an employee retires early. We also find that some
retirees move in and out of retirement, especially those with
physical conditions that limit their ability to work full time
consistently. So as health improves, they might go back to
work for a short while and then go back into retirement. And
it could be the health of themselves or, again, a loved one.
Cochran: When we're talking with organizations, we realize
that, typically, the 60- to 65-year-old workers are at the top of
their game financially, careerwise, knowledgewise. So, many
times they'll retire because they think they should and they
want to have some fun. They spend a couple of years, and
then they come back for another career. It's difficult to replicate
them with new employees coming in. So we're seeing
many of them going back into the workforce but more in a
consulting role.
Collinson: In our research, we see the trends that Bridget
and Kim are talking about. We also see that today's workers
have expectations of working beyond traditional retirement
age. They envision it as a flexible transition, not full-blast,
full-time one day, never again the next. They have a real
desire for a phased retirement and something that's flexible
Bridget Bearden is research and development strategist
at the Employee Benefit Research Institute in Washington,
D.C. Before joining EBRI, she conducted research and
created thought leadership for corporate and nonprofit
investment organizations.
Kim Cochran is director at Raffa Retirement Services, a
division of Hub Retirement and Wealth Management, in
Washington, D.C. Before joining Raffa, she served for 14
years as a relationship executive at OneAmerica.
Catherine Collinson is CEO and president of nonprofit
Transamerica Institute and Transamerica Center for Retirement
Studies in Los Angeles. An expert on retirement and
market trends, she champions Americans struggling to
achieve a financially secure retirement.
Participants | Spring 2023 | planadviser.com 27
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PLANADVISER - Spring 2023

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