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Workplace Education = More Retirement Savings and Confidence, Less Stress

Workers who listed their employers as their first or second source of retirement education have more money saved for retirement than those who listed parents or family members as their top source, according to a new survey by Ramsey Solutions.

Additionally, the survey finds that employees with access to financial and retirement education have less stress, more savings and more confidence than those without access. On the other hand, 40% of workers say their employers do not provide any type of retirement or financial education and 7 out of 10 workers with zero retirement savings do not have access to retirement education from their employers. And that gap leaves them feeling stressed — those same workers rank anxiety as the number-one emotion they associate with retirement.

Nearly half (47%) of those who have saved $250,000–$999,999 say their employers are a source of retirement education — second only to financial advisors. On the other hand, 7 out of 10 workers who have zero retirement savings do not have access to any retirement education from their employers, while only 11% of those who have saved $250,000–$999,999 say the same.

Generation Gaps

Millennials (41%) are more likely to have learned what they know about retirement from their parents than Generation X (35%) or Baby Boomers (23%). Younger workers are more likely to have learned about retirement in school, but only a small number: Just 22% of Millennials learned about retirement in school, compared with 13% of Gen Xers and a mere 8% of Baby Boomers.

Nine out of 10 Millennials and Gen Xers and 8 out of 10 Baby Boomers say they would be comfortable talking with their employers about retirement planning. Similar numbers of upper- and middle-income workers also say they would talk about retirement planning with their employers. More than 75% of lower-income workers are open to speaking with their employers about retirement.

Half of Baby Boomers say their employers do not offer any educational resources on retirement, compared with 39% of Generation Xers and 33% of Millennials. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of lower-income workers say the same of their employers, along with 43% of middle-income workers and 29% of upper-income workers.

Retirement in America is a research study conducted with 1,016 U.S. adults. The nationally representative sample was polled between Feb. 26, 2016, and March 1, 2016, using a third-party research panel.

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