Stay the course despite market volatility, says T. Rowe Price

Study finds 95% of retirement plan participants made no changes to investments in year’s first half.

The current market volatility and lower expected market returns shouldn’t warrant a change in retirement savings strategies for most workers, according to research from T. Rowe Price.

“However, older workers, especially those close to retirement, will have less time to recoup lower returns and may need to make up that ground by increasing their savings,” the company said in a press release.

The firm found that 401(k) plan participants on the whole have been staying the course. During the first half of the year, more than 95% have not made any investment exchanges, and fewer than 1% of those fully invested in target-date funds made any investment changes.

The firm continues to suggest that workers save at least 15%, including any employer contribution, of their annual salary for retirement. It suggested that those close to retirement but unable to meet their retirement savings benchmarks might consider delaying retirement for a year or two, taking part time work in retirement or making spending adjustments.