Enterprising Investor
Practical analysis for investment professionals
12 February 2015

Poll: Who Should Bear the Primary Responsibility for a Well-Funded Retirement?

Faced with the challenge of living off their assets for 30-plus years after their working lives are over, it is not surprising that for most people around the world, retirement security is a significant, if not the most significant, financial goal. Retirement security is also an important international issue because of aging populations, shrinking or minimal growth in working-age populations, and public pensions that are either underfunded or under stress.

Around the world, defined contribution plans are replacing defined benefit plans, and thus employers are clearly placing the funding — as well as the financial and investment risks — squarely on their employees. Although the amounts differ in each country, retirement income typically comes from three sources: government programs, employer-supported pensions, and individuals’ savings.

Because each component is involved in providing retirement benefits, we asked CFA Institute Financial NewsBrief readers who should bear the primary responsibility for a well-funded retirement. Of the 814 who responded to our poll, an overwhelming majority (roughly 82%) believe that individual retirement investors have the ultimate responsibility for financing their own retirement liability. The remaining 18% of respondents were split between employers (11%) and governments (7%).


Who should bear the primary responsibility for a well-funded retirement?

Poll: Who should bear the primary responsibility for a well-funded retirement?


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All posts are the opinion of the author. As such, they should not be construed as investment advice, nor do the opinions expressed necessarily reflect the views of CFA Institute or the author’s employer.

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About the Author(s)
Robert Stammers, CFA

Robert Stammers, CFA, was director of Investor Engagement for CFA Institute and was responsible for increasing the use and distribution of Future of Finance and CFA Institute content by various audiences. Prior to joining CFA Institute, Stammers was the principal for his founded company where he consulted for real estate owners, lenders, and syndicators to develop and analyze structured real estate investments. There he devised strategy for obtaining debt and preferred equity capital and created finance-related marketing materials and research papers for various clients. Stammers has authored over 100 articles on various financial and investment topics for such investment periodicals as Forbes and Investopedia. He served as a senior equity analyst, where he was responsible for the creation of new investment tools and instructional products to provide the revenues for two new investment education companies. As a senior executive for several institutional fund managers, Stammers was the portfolio manager for a $1 billion enhanced real estate fund, a $1.2 billion private timber fund, and several pension fund separate accounts.

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