Surveys 

Defined Contribution Plan: Distribution Choices at Retirement

Defined contribution (DC) plans have become an integral part of the U.S. private pension system. At year-end 2007, DC plans held $4.5 trillion in assets and accounted for 25 percent of all U.S. retirement assets. This does not count monies originating in employer-sponsored plans and rolled over into Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs). At year-end 2007, IRAs held $4.7 trillion in assets; much of this total resulted from rollovers.…

Single Women in the USA: Retirement Dreams v. Financial Realities

For the past 8 years, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies has conducted a national survey of U.S. business employers and workers regarding their attitudes toward retirement. Theresearch emphasizes employer-sponsored retirement plans, issues faced by small-to mid-sized companies and their employees, and the implications of legislative and regulatory changes.…

9th Annual Transamerica Retirement Workforce Survey

An online survey was conducted among a nationally representative sample of 2,011 full-time workers and 1,001 part-time workers using the Harris online panel, HPOL. Potential respondents were targeted based on job title and full-time and part-time status. Respondents met the following criteria: -All U.S. residents, age 18 or older -Full-time workers or part-time workers in for-profit corporations -Employer size of 10 or more…

Retirement Trends

A new survey of retirement trends from the Lincoln Retirement Institute sought to better understand baby boomers and retirees by giving them a chance to imagine what their futures in retirement will be like and reflect on the decisions they have made in the past.…

Financial Attitudes and Actions

As more and more Americans rely on their defined contribution plan for the bulk of their retirement savings, their ability to manage their accounts, select investment options and save at adequate levels becomes more and more important. As 76 million Baby Boomers contemplate retirement and the financial markets remain turbulent, understanding retirement plan participant attitudes and savings behavior is an important priority both for providers and employers.…

Understanding and Managing the Risks of Retirement

The long and widely heralded passage of Baby Boomers into retirement is now underway. Maturing into older Americans, this generation brings to the forefront serious issues of financial security and wellness. Understanding retirement risks is becoming increasingly important in our aging society, with volatility in financial markets and growing emphasis on individual responsibility for managing personal assets. Compounding these issues is the changing dynamics of work itself-specifically, how people leave the labor force or partially retire as they get older. Not only is the very concept of retirement changing, but Baby Boomers are reinventing their lives. And they are doing this within a society whose basic fabric is once more being retextured by their influential presence.…