Participants in 401(k) programs don’t want to go into retirement without a clear picture of what shape their finances are in.

That was the main takeaway of an Insured Retirement Institute study in which nine in 10 participants polled said they wanted to see an estimate of lifetime income appear on their 401(k) statement.

This is in keeping with the position of the Department of Labor, which intends to propose that retirement plans should be made to include illustrations of lifetime income on statements.

Having this data available has a greater potential impact than just increasing plan participants’ personal understanding of their plans, according to IRI President and CEO Cathy Weatherford.

“Not only would these estimates be helpful to plan participants, but our research demonstrates that they would lead to improved savings,” said Weatherford.

“More than 75 percent of the plan participants who took part in this study said they would increase their contributions after seeing their retirement income estimates. And by no small margin. These respondents would increase their contribution level by 4 percentage points or more. This confirms our belief that lifetime income estimates would improve Americans’ understanding of their retirement plan options and lead to better decision making.”

The appearance of lifetime income payment estimates on retirement statements is an ongoing advocacy goal of the IRI, and the DOL is expected to propose a rule along these lines this summer. The DOL issued an Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on lifetime income illustrations in May 2013.

According to that notice, the lifetime income estimate would be calculated based on a plan participant’s current accrued benefits and future projected accrued benefits.

According to the IRI report:

More than 90 percent of survey respondents believe lifetime retirement income estimates are helpful in preparing for retirement.

More than 90 percent of respondents want their employers to provide online retirement income calculators so workers can select their own assumptions to calculate estimates of lifetime retirement income.

The survey found no overwhelming preference as to whether lifetime income estimates should be based on current account balances or projected account balances.

IRI members include insurers, asset managers and broker-dealers/distributors

Also read: Lifetime income projections may not spur much, EBRI says

Instant Insights /

Most participants favor lifetime income projections

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