At least American workers and the federal government can agree on one thing: Having guaranteed income in retirement is vital. A recent survey by LIMRA and a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) concur on that point.
When polled by LIMRA, eight in 10 U.S. workers favor employers providing direction on how to covert savings into a retirement income. Support was particularly strong among younger workers, with 90 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 34 "strongly" or "somewhat" agreeing that employers should aid in helping workers turn their 401(k) or defined contribution (DC) funds into an income stream in retirement.
Younger workers, and even those closer to retirement, perhaps feel the need for a pension-like income in retirement because fewer and fewer are covered by a defined benefit (DB) plan. According to LIMRA research, only 13 nevertheless only 33 percent of workers between the ages of 60 and 64 can pull from a pension.
The LIMRA survey noted that while 60 percent of private sector employees have access to an employer-sponsored DC plan, only 21,000 employers currently offer in-plan income guarantees, which represents less than 1 percent of U.S. workers.
