Workers' retirement confidence rises, but knowledge lags

"Nationwide also found that nearly half of plan participants have made reactive decisions to shift their funds to more conservative assets. And the percentage is slightly higher among people ages 22 to 34 who have more time to invest and save. Furthermore, respondents who expressed the highest levels of confidence were more likely to make risky financial decisions. They were 12 percentage points more likely to have reallocated savings to more conservative assets,"

"and they were 10 points more likely to have made emotional decisions about investments that they later regretted, such as: Selling at the bottom of the market Buying too high after a market recovery Lack of diversification in their investment portfolio Pausing their retirement contributions Nationwide warned that these actions run counter to long-term investment principles and reflect instinctive, rather than informed, choices."

Market uncertainty has led many retirement-plan participants to make reactive shifts toward conservative assets, with nearly half having done so and a slightly higher rate among people ages 22 to 34. Respondents expressing the highest confidence were 12 percentage points more likely to reallocate savings to conservative assets and 10 points more likely to make emotional investment decisions later regretted. Common regretted actions include selling at market bottoms, buying high after recoveries, poor diversification and pausing retirement contributions. Additional data show widespread retirement-literacy gaps, including incorrect knowledge of compound interest. Workers are advised to seek professional advice, workplace resources, and plan options such as lifetime-income investments to protect long-term security.

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