Bolster employee retirement benefits by making statements comprehensible; Employees won't get the most out of their 401(k) plans if they can't understand them.(Retirement)

Byline: Kathleen Koster

When it comes to their retirement benefits and saving for their golden years, employees are discouraged and desperately need help, many experts agree. Research from I-Pension shows that 27% of workers admit they do not even open their 401(k) statements.

The Newton, Mass.-based retirement plan adviser also found that, of those who did open and read their statements, almost three-fourths (72%) took less than three minutes to consume and process information that many individuals readily admit they do not understand.

More evidence of how clueless the average American investor may be is that one-third of 401(k) participants admit they do not know what percentage of their account is invested in U.S. stocks, foreign stocks, or fixed-income products, according to I-Penison's research.

"I think there is a lot of frustration, particularly with the down market," says Karl Kunkle, co-managing partner of Schneider Downs Wealth Management. "I hear a lot of people aren't even opening their statements because they don't want to see the bad news. With that said, people don't understand them. People aren't financially sophisticated."

And they freely admit it. Eighty-two percent of employees interviewed for I-Pension's study reported that they made investment decisions on their own, but the same percentage said they would be likely to request assistance if their employer provided access to investment advice.

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