Many couples may be missing out on thousands of dollars in additional retirement savings simply because they are not discussing how they contribute to their workplace retirement plans, according to a new analysis highlighted by a Boston College economist.

Geoffrey Sanzenbacher, an economics professor at Boston College and research fellow at the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, argues that communication is one of the simplest ways households can strengthen their retirement finances.

Sanzenbacher’s latest column examines a recent brief, where researchers explored whether married couples are making the most of employer matching contributions by coordinating how they split retirement savings between their workplace plans.

The professor mentioned that contribution-based plans, particularly 401(k)s, have become the primary retirement savings vehicle for U.S. workers. More than 80% of employers that offer 401(k) plans also provide matching contributions tied to employee savings.

Previous research has shown many workers fail to maximize employer matches, effectively leaving free retirement money behind. The new analysis asks whether couples make similar mistakes.

Small adjustments, bigger retirement balances

The research found that roughly 40% of couples actively coordinate their 401(k) contributions to maximize employer matching funds.

But about one in five leave available matching dollars unclaimed because they fail to allocate contributions between spouses in the most advantageous way.

The brief illustrates the issue with a hypothetical couple contributing a combined $480 each month to retirement accounts.

By shifting contribution percentages between spouses to take fuller advantage of one employer’s more generous match, the household could receive an additional $30 per month from employers without increasing its own savings, said Sanzenbacher.

He added that over 30 years, assuming a 5% real return, that change could produce roughly $25,000 in additional retirement savings.

Researchers also found that another 40% of couples appear uncoordinated but still receive the maximum available employer match, likely because both spouses independently contribute enough to qualify.

For couples that miss matching contributions, Sanzenbacher says the solution may be surprisingly straightforward.

“These couples can build more retirement wealth by paying one very low ‘cost’: simply having a conversation about their employer’s 401(k) match and how much each is contributing,” he writes, adding a final nudge: “I know communication can be hard … but c’mon people. Get talking.”

Financial adviser works to overcome lack of education

Financial adviser Ryan Ponsford believes the biggest obstacle in retirement lending is a lack of education among both financial advisers and mortgage professionals.

In a recent interview with HousingWire‘s Reverse Mortgage Daily, Ponsford said that advisers often dismiss reverse mortgages without understanding how they can fit into a broader retirement income strategy, while lenders frequently fail to communicate the product’s role in financial planning.

“What I’m finding is, once advisers start understanding the flexibility you can get by putting this line of credit in place sooner rather than later, it opens their eyes to a ton of different things,” Ponsford said.

He added that reverse mortgages are not appropriate for every retiree, but they deserve consideration alongside other retirement planning tools.

“If I’ve got $500,000 and I can find something for $700,000 and not have a mortgage payment, that’s big,” Ponsford said. “It’ll get trickier at today’s interest rates, but for the right person in the right circumstances, it should be part of the conversation. As an adviser, you should know it’s not going to win every time, but I think it’s malpractice not to consider it.”

This article was written by Jonathan Delozier and generated with the assistance of HousingWire Automation.