Clients with advisors are saving for retirement

Forget the Canada Pension Plan and Kathleen Wynne’s ORPP – new research suggests financial advisors are the ones truly helping people to save for retirement

According to Franklin Templeton’s 2015 Retirement Income Strategies and Expectations (RISE) survey, clients who work with a financial advisor are much more likely to have already begun saving for retirement, compared to those who have never worked with an advisor (93% versus 54%).

“People should absolutely take an active approach when it comes to retirement planning, and financial advisors can help,” said Michael Doshier, vice president of retirement marketing for Franklin Templeton Investments. “Our survey results clearly demonstrate the critical role financial advisors play in empowering their clients to become active participants in both financial and emotional retirement preparation.”

The annual survey, which polled more than 2,000 Americans, found that nearly half of those who have never worked with a financial advisor have no retirement savings, and nearly one-quarter of pre-retirees who have never worked with an advisor, never plan to retire.

“Advisors can provide the necessary tools and support their clients’ need to be smart, engaged investors,” says Doshier, “which ultimately leads to their greater sense of security in the time leading up to and during retirement.”

According to the survey, pre-retired individuals who have never worked with a financial advisor are more than twice as likely to answer “don’t know” when asked what percentage of their current income they expect to live on in retirement, compared to those who work with a financial advisor (49% versus 20%). In addition, pre-retirees who have never worked with a financial advisor are nearly twice as likely as those who work with an advisor to feel the most likely cause of a retirement delay would be because they believe they do not have enough money saved (42% versus 24%).

Those who work with a financial advisor are also more likely to express confidence that their workplace retirement plan (77%) and personal investments (89%) will provide expected income in retirement, compared to those who have never worked with an advisor (both 58%).

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