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Beyond the Retirement Crisis Headlines

Why Employer-Sponsored Plans Are the Key to Retirement Adequacy for Today's Workers

This report from the Morningstar Center for Retirement & Policy Studies is the inaugural research using the Morningstar Model of US Retirement Outcomes. It analyzes the likelihood that today’s US workers will have adequate financial resources in retirement. The model can help identify which workers may be prepared for retirement and which may fall short based on a wide range of demographic and economic factors.  These findings will serve as a baseline for future publications using this sophisticated simulation model to assess the impact of various legislative proposals, products, and innovations on the retirement system. 

What’s Inside:

  • Emphasis on the role the defined-contribution system plays in retirement readiness 
  • What demographic groups (by age, race, socioeconomic status, and gender) may experience shortfalls in preparing for retirement 
  • An introduction to the Morningstar Model of US Retirement Outcomes and how it measures these findings 

Read the key findings fact sheets here:

  • Finding One: Assuming Status Quo for Social Security, Baby Boomers and Gen Xers Are More Likely to Experience Retirement Shortfalls Than Other Generations of Today's Workers
  • Finding Two: There Will Likely be a Retirement Crisis…for Those Who Do Not or Are Unable to Participate in a Defined Contribution Plan
  • Finding Three: There Is Expected to be Considerable Dispersion in Retirement Outcomes with Lower Income Workers Much More Likely to Experience Shortfalls
  • Finding Four: Hispanic and Black Americans Are Much More Likely to Run Short of Money in Retirement than Americans of Other Race and Ethnic Backgrounds
  • Finding Five: About 45% of Current US Workers Will Experience Retirement Funding Shortfalls, with Females Who are Single at Retirement Age More at Risk than Single Males and Couples
  • Finding Six: Retirement Funding Ratios Vary Substantially by Industry, with Public Sector Workers Most Prepared for Retirement
  • Finding Seven: Only About 28% of US Households Would Experience Shortfalls if Retiring at 70, Compared to 45% if Retiring at 65

Read the technical appendix here.

Download the infographic here.

Learn more about the Morningstar Model of US Retirement Outcomes.

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