Tip of the Day: Help cure 'Mattressitis'

A rarely talked about but common condition, "mattressitis" is the "urge to withdraw assets intended for retirement and hide them under one's mattress."

As the economy has worsended, so has the condition among U.S. workers. To help employers combat mattressitis, Mercer has launched a new website, FeelBetterAboutRetirement.com.

“Planning for retirement in a volatile and rapidly changing economic environment can be a major challenge, which is why we are proactively addressing our participants’ anxieties with this interactive educational program,” says Suzanne Nolan, director of marketing and communications for Mercer’s outsourcing business. “By candidly addressing the challenges that participants can particularly relate to in this economy, we feel that we can improve employee engagement and empower employees to make decisions that are consistent with their financial goals.”

The initiative is based on key findings from the 2008 Mercer Workplace Survey, which found 43% of participants lack confidence in their ability to calculate and plan for how much money they may need in retirement.

“While plan sponsors can feel encouraged by the fact that employees still consider saving for retirement a priority, our findings emphasize the need to increase communication to participants about the benefits of maintaining a long-term investment strategy," Nolan says. "Employees consistently report that they rely on employers and their plan administrators more than any other source for information about investing for retirement, and we will continue to support plan sponsors in fulfilling that critical role.”

Tip of the Day: Make the most of Financial Literacy Month

Today's retirement confidence numbers show how nervous employees are about securing their financial futures. But even before the recession, workers weren't exactly financial Einsteins. Now that economic conditions are working even more against them, this month's National Financial Literacy Month comes along at the perfect time.

“When money gets tight, a strong financial foundation is key to ensuring that you don’t get in over your head with uncontrollable debt,” Cate Williams, VP of financial literacy for Money Management International, says.


MMI had laid out 30 steps (one for each day this month) on the path to financial wellness. My apologies for not getting this out two weeks late! But surely, it's better late than never, and there's no reason you can't share these tips with employees into May and beyond.

Overheard @: Workers hunkering down for long recession

A new survey of 1,002 Americans by Econ4U shows how Americans are responding to the financial crisis. And although respondents appear to be saving more, the overall outlook is pretty cloudy.

* 76% expect the recession to last for at least another year.
* 64% have less than six months of savings in case they lose their job. 39% have two months or less.
* 64% know someone who has lost their job in the past six months.
* 40% have begun saving more because of concerns about the economy.
* 19% have experienced trouble accessing credit in the past six months.
* 83% of survey respondents said they expected a tax refund this year. 31% were planning on spending the refund, 29% expected to put it into savings and 18% said they would use it to pay off existing credit card debt.

"When two-thirds of Americans do not have enough savings to pay their bills for six months if they lost their job, it is clear that the skills of budgeting and saving skills have become something of a lost art in this country,” says James Bowers, managing director for the Center for Economic and Entrepreneurial Literacy. "Increased adult education in economics and personal finance would address the concerns of many Americans and give them the tools to protect themselves during this economic downturn.”

Well, there you have it, pros. What is your company doing to make workers more financially savvy? Is it an employer's duty to provide such an education? Comment and let me know.

Also, read more from EBN and BenefitNews.com on financial education.

Tip of the Day

In a word, duck! A finger of blame may be pointing your way. A recent article in the Las Vegas Business Press reports that employees angry over their 401(k) losses from the stock market freefall will be "looking for someone to blame," and that someone may be employers.

Since we want to leave you with more of a tip today than "duck," read the full LVBP article on how to approach financial education for employees amid the economic downturn, and a recent EBA report on how HR/benefits pros are taking action to shield employees from greater financial pain through benefit programs.

Scone: Single women’s retirement future slipping away

Although no one is saving well for retirement, a new study from Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies reveals that single women are particularly vulnerable.

It is a group that employers will need to plug into specifically for retirement communications, as research shows the majority of adult women are now single (51% were living without a spouse in 2005), and 10.4 million are single mothers.

Transamerica finds the amount single women say they will need to save for retirement ranges from less than $100,000 to $2 million, with the median being $500,000. However, 60% guessed at that number, while only 6% used a retirement calculator or spoke to a financial advisor. The study also finds that more than one-fifth of single women (21%) didn’t start saving for retirement until age 40 or later, and that the median contribution rate is 6% across all age groups.

These are scary statistics that employers must pay attention to. These women have only themselves to rely on financially, and many are caring for children on their own. Plus, research shows that even if they do ultimately marry/remarry, they likely will outlive their spouse.

With that in mind, I encourage employers to take cues from some school educators that are separating children into boys and girls classrooms. Studies show that both groups fare much better in same-sex environments, for multiple reasons, and I think the same could be true of men and women when it comes to retirement education.

Granted, the tools and techniques for saving and investing adequately are the same, regardless of gender. However, how those techniques are learned may very well be gender-specific, and perhaps all employees might benefit from separate messaging. Clearly, gender-neutral education and communication hasn’t worked very effectively. Let’s give something new a shot.