OneAmerica® survey asks participants: How do you interact with your retirement plan?
Indianapolis (February 4, 2013) – Younger retirement plan participants are more likely to use online retirement calculators, interactive charts and mobile apps in preparing for retirement than older counterparts. The American United Life Insurance Company® (AUL), a OneAmerica company, Monday announced new results from its retirement participant survey that reveal a digital divide when it comes to the use of technology in preparing for retirement.
Key findings include:
- More than 60 percent of retirement plan participants under age 40 said they found online retirement calculators most helpful. This compares to 51 percent of participants age 41 to 50 and only 41 percent of those over 50.
- In contrast, 67 percent of those over 50 found articles most helpful, compared to only 45 percent of those aged 20 to 30. (Respondents were able to select more than one choice from a list.)
- Twice as many 20- t o 30-year-olds (24 percent) found mobile apps helpful, compared to only 12 percent of 40-to 50-year-olds. Only 7 percent of those over 50 found mobile apps helpful.
“Retirement plan providers need to work with their trusted advisers to ensure that plan sponsors are providing a wide variety of tools and the information participants need in various formats in order to reach all audiences successfully,” said Bill Yoerger, president of retirement business for the OneAmerica companies.
The companies of OneAmerica recently surveyed visitors to its participant website to determine how they learned about finances and prepared for retirement, what resources are most effective and how confident they are with their retirement preparations. 6,360 participants responded to the online survey, which OneAmerica plans to replicate in coming years to gauge progress in helping participants prepare for a secure retirement.
The survey also found that the digital divide extends to the sources where participants read about financial issues. Participants in the 20- to 30-year-old range are more than twice as likely to read about financial issues via blogs than 40- to 50-year-olds (20 percent vs. 9 percent). And 28 percent of the younger group of workers read about financial issues via social media. This compares to only 16 percent of 40- to 50-year-olds.
The OneAmerica companies recently developed a guidance program for plan sponsors interested in improving the education they deliver to employees that helps them understand how to reach different generations with tailored education and information.
“This is also something to keep an eye on in years to come,” added Yoerger. “As these generations move through the different age bands, they will likely maintain their preferences for receiving information, while new workers entering the workforce may have completely different needs and habits. It’s up to our industry to evolve with these generations of future retirees.”
About OneAmerica
OneAmerica Financial Partners, Inc. (www.oneamerica.com), headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., has companies that can trace their solid foundations back more than 135 years in the insurance and financ ial services marketplace.
OneAmerica’s nationwide network of companies offers a variety of products to serve the financial needs of their policyholders and other clients. These products include retirement plan products and services; individual life insurance, annuities, long-term care solutions and employee benefit plan products. The goal of OneAmerica is to blend the strengths of each company to achieve greater collective results.
