John Hancock: More Than Half of Millennials on Track for Retirement
Thursday, September 22nd, 2016
According to data from John Hancock Retirement Plan Services, more than half of Millennials in the workforce are on track for a financially secure retirement, meaning they would be able to replace 70 percent or more of their incomes after they stop working.
New solutions, such as employers' adoption of auto-enrollment, have helped Millennials begin saving earlier, and that, in turn, has helped to put their retirement savings on course.
These findings come from John Hancock's annual Financial Stress Survey, in which Millennials say their top financial worries are repaying college loans, their overall current financial situation, and emergency savings. Retirement is less immediate for Millennials, so it is lower on their list of concerns.
"With Millennials, our challenge is not getting them to join the plan – auto-solutions have done that – but it is to engage them in their broader financial lives," said Patrick Murphy, president of John Hancock RPS. "Millennials tend to do more of their own research up front, but then they often want to clarify some information, and validate their thinking, so there is still a place for exceptional, one-on-one customer support and expert advice."
As a plan provider, Murphy added that John Hancock "understands people have different needs as they plan for retirement. Our passion is to help identify and implement solutions to help them achieve their goals and, as a result, reduce or eliminate their financial stress."
One of those solutions is Morningstar's HelloWallet financial wellness program, which John Hancock RPS began offering on its Total Retirement Solution platform in late 2015. HelloWallet helps people to create budgets, analyze their spending and savings trends, and track progress toward their financial goals.