"Employees are increasingly aware of the importance of protecting against the unexpected - such as the premature death of a main wage earner, a disability, or the need for long-term care," said Lori High, president of Prudential’s Group Insurance business. "Employees value comprehensive employer-sponsored benefits plans and need easy-to-understand information about available choices."
Back to Basics provides insight from benefits plan participants, benefits plan sponsors, and benefits brokers and consultants. High said the findings can be used to help employees prepare for annual enrollment and to support employers’ business planning and strategy development. Additional findings noted in the report are:
- The importance of "saving for retirement" has declined over the past three years, with a steep drop in 2009, as more pressing, short-term financial needs came into focus.
- Workers are less certain about when they are going to retire with 14% in 2009 saying they don’t know when they are going to retire compared to 9 % last year.
- Nearly half of U.S. workers say they re-evaluated their life insurance needs within the past year, which is a significant increase from 2008.
"Employers can help by keeping their focus on providing long-term financial security through their benefits offerings," High said. "Maintaining a high-quality benefits plan that includes robust voluntary benefits options like life insurance at several times an employee’s salary can help provide an added sense of well-being."
High said employees and group plan administrators are finding it difficult to navigate the myriad of benefit options and administrative details involved in selecting a group insurance plan. Prudential is addressing the varying needs of employees by age and stage of life in enrollment communications based on employee demographics.
She said Prudential’s suite of voluntary benefits promotes employee choice and help employers contain costs. To support benefits administrators faced with reduced staffing, Prudential provides administration programs including absence management, return to work strategies and the support with issues relating to the Family and Medical Leave Act.
