A recent analysis suggests that it can be useful to consider employees’ personalities when designing retirement benefits strategies.
In “Understanding the Workforce: The 4 Personality Segments to Consider for Retirement Benefits Strategies,” the LIMRA Secure Retirement Institute identifies worker personalities in the American workforce based on how workers feel about their work, employers, work environments, benefits available and how benefits relate to financial security.
The personality types LIMRA identifies, and their characteristics, are:
| Personality Type | % of the Workforce | Characteristics |
| Resigned | 19% | low confidence in their own capabilities
lower work engagement low opinion of retirement most concerned of the four types about debt average age: 40 average tenure at current employer: five years |
| Restless | 24% | highly confident in their own capabilities
lowest loyalty to employer of any of the four types poor opinion of employer retirement benefits and help from employer strongly inclined to save and to plan average age: 43 average tenure at current employer: five years |
| Satisfied | 28% | highly confident in their own capability
highly dependent on benefits trust their employer positive about retirement benefits strongly inclined to save and plan average age: 48 average tenure at current employer: nine years |
| Settled | 29% | highly confident in their own capabilities
the least dependent of any of the four types on benefits the least likely of the four types to work with a average age: 43 average tenure at current employer: five years |
Access to Retirement Plans
Strong majorities of all types believe that employees should have access to a retirement plan at their workplace. The Satisfied agreed to the greatest extent — to the tune of 85%, and 61% strongly so — but even two-thirds of the Resigned agreed.
Employers’ Role
Majorities of all groups contend that employers are responsible to contribute toward employees’ retirement savings. The Satisfied lead the pack at 85%; the Resigned registered lowest, but were still at 63%.
Not only do they hold that employers should contribute, majorities also believe that employers should be required to offer a retirement plan. As in all the areas measured, the Satisfied agreed most strongly, at 77%; however, in this case the Restless came in a close second at 71%.
Employees Too
Majorities in all groups believe that employers are not alone in bearing responsibility for helping employees to save for retirement — so, too, do employees themselves. Close to 70% of the Satisfied and the Restless think so, and around 60% of the Settled and Resigned do.
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