Younger women more likely to use automatic enrollment, escalation retirement plan features

Because women are more likely to interrupt their careers to raise children or care for an elderly parent, it's important for them to start saving for retirement early, save as much as they can and maximize their retirement plan benefits, says Christine Marcks, president of Prudential Retirement. And to help women do just that, employers are turning to plan design features-like auto enrollment and auto escalation-that can have a significant impact on savings over time.

"Among the plans we administer, women who were automatically enrolled are, on average, eight years younger than women who joined the plan on their own," says Marcks. "And those additional years of saving, especially for younger workers, can have a substantial positive impact on long-term retirement savings.

Marcks notes that the plan design features are helping close the "confidence gap"-the difference between the importance women place on financial goals and the confidence they have in achieving them-as identified in Prudential's 2014-2015 signature research "Financial Experience & Behaviors Among Women."

"According to our research, 75 percent of women surveyed stressed the importance of having money to maintain their lifestyle in retirement," Marcks says, "but only 14 percent expressed confidence they will meet that goal. That's virtually unchanged from 10 years ago."

on a special Prudential-sponsored Capitol Hill forum held last month. Want to speak with Christine? Contact Josh Stoffregen.

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The Prudential Insurance Company of America, Newark, NJ and its affiliates.

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