Nevin's Data "Points"

  A recent survey “revealed” a big disconnect between participants and plan sponsors — or did it? The  survey , conducted from mid-January to mid-February earlier this year by Voya, found that while 91% of sponsors thought participants were either very or somewhat prepared for retirement, “just” 69% of participants felt that way. A finding that I think it’s fair to say surprised — well, probably no one.  Indeed, I’m sure there are any number of advisors out there who saw this as an opportunity to tell plan sponsors that while they may THINK the participants they serve and support are in good shape, their reality may be different. Particularly since this survey also found that advisors’ perspective was pretty much aligned with that of the participants surveyed.   But could plan sponsors’ “read” of participant readiness really be so strong as to be so out of touch with participants’ perception? The authors of the report opined that the bull market might explain the lev...

An important decision, made in minutes. No, that’s not retirement plan savings—though various consumer surveys have suggested that many spend more time mapping out their annual vacations than how they’ll fund their retirement needs.  Rather, that’s how a new whitepaper  by Voya’s Thought Leadership Council and SAVVI Financial LLC characterizes the 17 minutes that the average employee spends enrolling in benefits—including health plan selection, voluntary benefits and more.  Now, in fairness, health care plan choices are, in my experience, less complicated that those associated with retirement. Not that they aren’t complicated, mind you—and there’s certainly concern associated with that choice (and “do overs” are hard to come by). But I suspect for most they are really “only” choosing between two, or at most three, different options—essentially packages carefully constructed by their HR groups (likely with the assistance of a benefits broker).  When ...