Small changes in financial behavior can result in noticeable improvements in retirement savings for millennials.

That’s according to Financial Finesse, which found in a study that younger employees who improved their financial assessment by one point (from 4.0 to 5.0 on a 10-point scale) saw a 12 percent increase in their average retirement plan contribution rate.

Even more impressive, an increase in employee financial wellness of an additional point, to 6.0, is projected to result in an improvement in lifetime retirement savings of more than 27 percent, based on the model.

Some of those changes in behavior that result in improvement are having a small emergency fund in place, tracking expenses, and paying down some credit card debt; millennials making those adjustments are more likely to increase their average retirement plan contribution rate.

But millennials aren’t the only ones to benefit, although they tend to see the greatest improvement. And they aren’t the only generation to experience challenges — although the types of challenge — and the degree of intensity — vary with the generations.

All generations, for instance, are struggling with debt; however, according to the study, boomers are particularly challenged, having the biggest decrease in the percentage that have a plan to pay off their debt (falling from 64 percent to 58 percent) and the biggest increase in those that are experiencing late fees (rising from 11 percent to 15 percent).

The study cited Employee Benefits Research Institute findings that heads of households aged 55–64 carried the highest levels of debt among the elderly and near-elderly, with the average debt load totaling $103,187 in 2013.

That, coupled with the increase in those paying late fees and those lacking a plan to pay off debt, “suggest problems with cash flow that may be impairing their ability to save during their peak earning years and possibly leading to the carryover of debt into retirement,” the study said.

Those carrying mortgages into retirement are already up, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which found that the percentage of homeowners age 65 and older with mortgage debt has already risen from 22 percent in 2001 to 30 percent in 2011. “This expense can make it harder for boomers to retire,” said the study, “and may encourage them to delay retirement.”

Instant Insights /

Small improvements multiply over time in retirement savings

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