Ab out four-in-five plan participants were satisfied with the investment options available, although EMBARGOED UNTIL APRIL 22, 2021, 1 PM EDT three-in-ten say they would like more options available, an increase from 22% in 2020. A quarter of Betsy Jaffe Retiree Lifestyle and Expenses Largely Unchanged workers with a workplace retirement plan say adding more investment options designed for post- Director, Marketing and Public Relations retirement would be valuable, and about three-quarters expressed some interest in putting a portion of Employee Benefit Research Institute Despite the challenges of 2020, retirees continue to report their lifestyle and expenses are as expected their plan savings into an investment option that would provide guaranteed mop nr thl ess y inc -mo em dia@ebri.or e for life. g or better. Eight-in-ten retirees report that their overall lifestyle – including traveling, spending time with 202.775.6347 family, or volunteering – is as expected or better, including nearly three-in-ten saying their retirement Diverse Communities Face Different Challenges lifestyle is better than they expected. Despite a challenging and unprecedented year, these results are v To irtu be all tty er iden und tical erstan to t dh dif ose fer m ences easurin ed pr retire e-p m an ent de -m relat ic, ie n d Jan beha uary vio2 rs and 020. Ab ato titud ut six es -in am -te on n re g w tir oee rkers s ind and ica te Confidence in Retirement Security Resilient in Face of Pandemic their o retireev s, t erh all is e yxp ear’s RCS enses an incl d spend uded o inv gersa in retire mples mo ent f Hi are spaas e nic and xpecte Black d an wor d just kers 2 and 6% s r ay etspen irees. The ding and surv ey ex inclu penses ded 7 are 31 re hig sponse her ths fr an e oxpect m thoed se w – a h decrea o identifi se ed as fromb last y eing o ear f Hi . spanic, Spanish, or Latino origin (404 Confidence in Medicare, Social Security Benefits Reaches All-Time High, Workers Stay the Course with workers, 327 retirees) and 741 completed surveys from those who identified as non-Hispanic Black or Retirement Plans “About seven-in-ten retirees report that their confidence in living comfortably throughout retirement African American (380 workers, 361 retirees). EBRI and Greenwald researchers will be conducting a was unchanged by the pandemic; 23% feel less confident and five percent feel more confident,” said Lisa WASHINGTON – April 22, 2021 – Despite a global pandemic that created uncertainty in the employment fuller analysis of differences by race and ethnicity and will issue a separate report on those findings in Greenwald, CEO of Greenwald Research, and co-author of the report. “Retirees’ top priorities for and financial markets, the 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) found eight-in-ten retirees are June 2021. discretionary spending in retirement continue to be travel and spending on leisure or entertainment. confident in their ability to live comfortably throughout retirement, similar to the 76 percent of retirees Abo Manu yt o th f these e Surv act ey:i v ities were curtailed during the pandemic, perhaps leading to lower spending. That’s who were confident when the survey was last fielded in March 2020. Workers also remain optimistic, one reason why we may be seeing these results. Another is the adaptability and resilience of retirees with 72 percent of workers expressing confidence in their ability to retire comfortably, up three The survey report, The 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey, is available at ebri.org. The survey was demonstrated throughout the RCS’ history. The survey shows retirees prioritize asset preservation and percentage points from last year. underwritten by AARP, Aon, Ariel Investments, Ayco, Bank of America, BlackRock, Capital Group, do not like the idea of spending down.” st Columbia Threadneedle, Empower Retirement, Fidelity Investments, FINRA Foundation, J.P. Morgan, The 31 Annual RCS is the longest-running survey of its kind, measuring worker and retiree confidence L Pa GIMA ndemi (Lc egal Inc & re a General ses Reti In rev e est Co m nent fideM ncan e iag n Me emen dic t aA re m a erica), nd Soc M ia er l S cer, ecuM rity utual of America, Nationwide about retirement. It is conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Financial, New York Life, PIMCO, Principal Financial Group, Prudential, PGIM, Retirement Clearinghouse, Research. The RCS was fielded in January. Last year, the RCS was fielded twice – once in January prior to “Also, Social Security – a ‘major’ source of income for more than six-in-ten retirees – continued T. Rowe Price, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Wells Fargo. the COVID-19 outbreak and then re-fielded through a supplemental survey of key questions from March uninterrupted during the pandemic,” added Greenwald. Confidence in Social Security continuing to 20-30, 2020, allowing for comparisons before and during the pandemic. p The rov2 id 0e 2 benefits 1 survey o of f at 3,0 least 17 Am equ erican al valu s w eas to c t o h n o d se ucte rece d o iv n ed to line Jd an ay u r ary eached an 5 throu g all h Jan -tim u e ary -hig 2 h 5 am , 20o 2n 1g . Al bo l th retiree respons ( dents 72%) w and ere ag wo e r2 ke 5rs o ( r o 53 ld %) er. . Three The sur in fo veyu incl r reu tir de ees d 1an ,50 d7 nearl work yers six in te and 1 n,5 w 1o 0r retiree kers are s – c o thi nfid s y ent ear that “Even with changes in the labor market, workers’ confidence in their ability to live comfortably in M inclu edid car ed an o e will vco ersa ntin mu pe le to o f oBla ffer benefi ck American ts of at s an least d Hisp eq au nal v ic Am alueri e tcan o th s. o se received today, an all-time high retirement remains high overall,” said Craig Copeland, EBRI senior research associate and co-author of since the RCS was first fielded and remarkable in a year marked by mass health concerns, especially the report. “However, while resilience may be the watchword for 2021, three-in-ten workers say the Data were weighted by age, sex, education, household income and race. Unweighted sample sizes are among older populations. pandemic has negatively impacted their ability to save for retirement, due to reduced hours, income, or noted on charts to provide information for margin of error estimates. The margin of error would be ± job changes. The group that was most likely to have their ability to save impacted were those that were W 2.5 or p ke err centag s Stayie np g o th ine t C s fo ou r b rse o an th wo d Sra ke tis rf s and ied w riet thir Wo ees in rkp a lasi ce m R ile arl tir ye -men sized ran t Plad no s m sample. more likely to have low confidence historically, such as low income, not married, and having a problem Onl Abo yu 2 t 2 EB % RI of: w orkers adjusted the age at which they plan to retire because of the pandemic and its with debt.” economic impact, including 17% who plan to retire later. The RCS continues to demonstrate that The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research institute based in Nearly two-in-ten (18 percent) workers said their hours and/or pay were reduced since February 1, workers expect to work in retirement, which is drastically different than the experience retirees report. Washington, DC, that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and economic security issues. EBRI 2020. One-in-ten workers said they were furloughed/temporarily laid off. In total, 39 percent of workers Three-quarters of workers expect to work in retirement compared to just three-in-ten retirees who conducts objective research and education to inform plan design and public policy, does not lobby and reported their household experienced some type of negative job or income change since February 1, report doing so. does not take policy positions. The work of EBRI is made possible by funding from its members and 2020. However, 21 percent of workers did report having some type of positive change in work in the M sponso ore than rs, w fh oich ur- in in-clu five d e wa b orke rors adwho ran a ge re of pu offer bed a lic, pwo rivat rkpl e, ace for-p ret roire fit and ment no sa n v p in ro gfi s p t o lan rg are anizatio satisfied ns. Fo with r same timeframe. the morb eenefi inform t. Ju atio st n thr go ee to -in w -tww en .eb repo ri.ro t rg ha . ving made changes to their plan in the past year. Among those Workers who had a negative change in work were more likely to say that the COVID-19 pandemic that did, six-in-ten say they increased the amount they contribute, while one-in-four each say they About Greenwald Research: reduced their confidence in having enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement reduced or stopped contributions. years. Half of workers who had a negative change in work said that they were either somewhat or Greenwald Research is a leading, independent research firm that has been specializing in retirement, “Showing further resilience, just one-in-ten workers who have saved for retirement say they have taken significantly less confident as a result of the COVID-19 impact, compared with just 24 percent of those employee benefits, and health care research for over 35 years. For more information, go to a loan, hardship distribution or early withdrawal from their workplace retirement plan in the past 12 who did not have a negative change. www.greenwaldresearch.com. months,” says Copeland. “The most likely reasons for taking this money out were for paying off credit card debt, or for a COVID-related need.”