Nearly 1 in 5 employers plan to offer lifetime income solutions to their workers in 2017 or later years. The top reason for doing so: to help employees convert their accumulated defined contribution plan balances to a guaranteed lifetime retirement income stream.
These are among the key findings of a Willis Towers Watson "Lifetime Income Solutions Survey." Completed by nearly 200 HR, benefit and finance executives, the study shows that retirement income planning is "urgently needed." Among the options employers are eyeing to fulfill these planning needs are insurance-backed solutions — fixed, fixed indexed and variable annuities — that can provide a guaranteed lifetime income.
