Worried Millennials willing to pay more for retirement

More and more Millennials would pay higher amount to guarantee their retirement benefits. The number increased from 42% in 2009 to 59% this year. Two-thirds of baby boomers (66%) would also be willing to sacrifice pay for more secure retirement benefits, versus half in 2009.

That is according to the findings from Willis Towers Watson's Global Benefits Attitudes Survey. The 2015/2016 survey measured attitudes of over 30,000 nongovernmental, private sector employees in 19 countries and was conducted between June and August 2015.

Commenting on the results in a press release, Steve Nyce, senior economist at Willis Towers Watson, pointed towards mounting worries over finances and retirement outlook as an explanation for the findings.

"Employees of all generations, including Millennials, are feeling vulnerable about their long-term security", said Nyce. "Employees young and old actually have a strong desire for more retirement security and are willing to give up pay to get more guarantees or a larger retirement benefit".

Although most generations might be worried about financials, Millennials seem most concerned with their long term prospects and are looking for less traditional ways to help secure their financial future. As such, the younger generation is more than happy to have their employer play an active role in encouraging them to better manage their finances, the survey found.

Earlier this year, MetLife’s 2016 Employee Benefit Trends Study produced even stronger results, when it found that up to 75% of Millennial workers feel that their employers have a responsibility for the financial well-being of their employees, higher than the average of 62% among all workers.

For employers looking to retain and attract talent by offering the right benefits, offering increased retirement benefits trumps covering employees' lower or more predictable short-term health costs. Only 32% of Millennials and 34% of boomers indicated that they're willing to pay a higher amount for those health costs, a decline from 43% and 45% in 2009, respectively.

"Interestingly, employees seem to be saying they have enough health coverage now and are reluctant to pay more", Nyce observed.

When asked how they would spend money if their employer provided them with an allowance to spend on a variety of benefits, Millennials said they would allocate more than half to health care and retirement plan benefits (27% each).

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