Dec
5 min

The Road to Better Outcomes: 2025 Global Retirement Survey Results

US SURVEY AUDIENCE701 Plan Participants    
Participants tell us about their leading financial concerns and areas of focus, their outlook on retirement savings and their views on competing financial priorities. Yes, participants are concerned, but they have also taken positive steps to prepare for retirement. Plan sponsors and advisors can be key allies in helping participants prioritize their retirement planning.

 
Participant Concerns &
Retirement Readiness
Participants tell us about their leading financial concerns and areas of focus, their outlook on retirement savings and their views on competing financial priorities.
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Participant Behavior &
Investment Selection
We review what participants understand and what they don’t when it comes to target date funds, as well as share their thoughts on long-term investing and the resources they use to make retirement planning decisions.
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Retirement Expectations vs
Reality
We compare what participants expect when it comes to retirement with what retirees are experiencing in retirement, including their views on retirement confidence and what's most important when it comes to their retirement portfolios.
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  • All Participants

  • Age Generations

  • Gender

All Participants

Leading Participant Concerns

Q: How concerned are you with the following financial matters today? (% very / extremely concerned)

Key Insight

While participants are most concerned with their ability to save enough money for retirement, they are dealing with a host of other immediate concerns, including the impact of inflation, the cost of housing, and saving for emergencies. 

Outlook on Retirement Saving

Q: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding your outlook on retirement saving and investing over the past year? (% Strongly/somewhat agree)

Key Insight

Many participants are feeling anxiety about their retirement savings outlook; a rising majority believe they need to save more than initially planned, and only a quarter feel confident they will be able to retire as desired. These trends underscore the increasing pressure participants feel to adjust their outlook to meet retirement goals.

Investing Over the Past Year, Among Participants Who Made a Change

Q: Please select the statement that most accurately describes your retirement saving and investing over the past year. 

Key Insight

Even though retirement plans are a long-term savings vehicle, participants are responding to market conditions and personal circumstances with changes to their investments. Most participants noted economic concerns were their top reason for making changes, regardless of whether they changed their investments to become more conservative or more aggressive.

Competing Financial Priorities

Q: What, if any, competing financial priorities do you have that are preventing you from adequately saving for retirement?  

Key Insight

Setting aside an adequate amount of savings for retirement is not a reality for most participants as they are either living paycheck to paycheck or dealing with some other competing priority – most notably setting aside money for emergencies. Educate participants on how to make saving a part of their financial plan.

Age Generations

Leading Participant Concerns

Q: How concerned are you with the following financial matters today? (% very / extremely concerned)

Key Insight

While saving for retirement is a leading concern among all pre-retirees, the younger generations point to additional financial concerns, including managing day-to-day financial obligations as key concerns.

Outlook on Retirement Saving

Q: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding your outlook on retirement saving and investing over the past year? (% Strongly/somewhat agree) 

Key Insight

Millennials and Gen X are more concerned about retiring on time – or retiring at all – than the older and younger generations

 

Investing Over the Past Year, Among Participants Who Made a Change

Q: Please select the statement that most accurately describes your retirement saving and investing over the past year. (Base: participants who have made a change to their investments within the last year, n=333).

Key Insight

Gen X and Boomers are more likely to say they’ve made a change to their investments in the past year and when it comes to the changes made, Boomers are signaling they are more likely to change to become more conservative or stay the same. Millennials were most likely to take on more aggressive investments.

Competing Financial Priorities

Q: What, if any, competing financial priorities do you have that are preventing you from adequately saving for retirement?  

Key Insight

Setting aside money to weather unpredictable financial burdens deters investors of all generations from allocating more money to their retirement, but younger generations are also focused on additional competing financial priorities.

Gender

Leading Participant Concerns

Q: How concerned are you with the following financial matters today? (% very / extremely concerned)

Key Insight

Women investors are more concerned with their financial matters, particularly when it comes to the impact of inflation, saving for emergencies, and saving enough for retirement.

Outlook on Retirement Saving

Q: How much do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding your outlook on retirement saving and investing over the past year? (% Strongly/somewhat agree)

Key Insight

While both men and women believe they will need to save more than they planned for retirement, women are more likely to believe they will either need to work longer or will not be able to retire at all.

Investing Over the Past Year, Among Participants Who Made a Change

Q: Please select the statement that most accurately describes your retirement saving and investing over the past year. (Base: participants who have made a change to their investments within the last year, n=333).

Key Insight

Men and women who made changes to their investments over the past year behaved similarly, with most keeping their overall level of risk about the same; about a third changed their investments to be more conservative.

Competing Financial Priorities

Q: What, if any, competing financial priorities do you have that are preventing you from adequately saving for retirement?  

Key Insight

Both genders identify their paycheck and saving for emergencies as limiting factors it comes to saving for retirement; women are slightly more likely to note student loans as an obstacle as well.

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