Retirement News & Updates
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Annuities Outperform Withdrawal Strategies. The Research Is Clear.
A new study by economists Gaobo Pang and Mark Warshawsky stress-tests four major retirement income strategies — pure systematic withdrawals, full annuitization, and two forms of partial annuitization — across a wide range of wealth levels, health statuses, risk preferences, and market conditions. The verdict is unambiguous: partial annuitization outperforms in nearly every scenario tested. Pure withdrawal strategies preserve flexibility but expose retirees to longevity risk and sequence-of-returns risk that significantly threatens long-term income security. Full annuitization maximizes income stability but eliminates liquidity and bequest potential. Partial annuitization — converting a meaningful portion of savings into guaranteed lifetime income while keeping the remainder invested — captures the advantages of both without the primary drawbacks of either. The study also finds that SECURE 2.0 has removed a key tax disadvantage that previously penalized partial annuitization, and that delaying Social Security to age 70 improves outcomes across every income strategy tested. For the millions of Americans retiring without a pension, the research offers a clear framework for building retirement income that lasts.
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The 401(k) Is Not Delivering. Employers Are Starting to Admit It
A new survey of 547 U.S. defined contribution plan sponsors from WTW finds that employers increasingly value their retirement plans — but many cannot demonstrate whether those plans are actually helping employees retire on time and with financial confidence. Only 60% of plan sponsors have even a working definition of retirement readiness, and the definitions they use vary widely: income replacement, retiring on time, and retirement confidence each cited by roughly 40% of sponsors. The result is what WTW calls a retirement outcomes gap — a structural mismatch between what employers expect their DC plans to deliver and what those plans were built to do. Three in four employers rank retirement savings as a core or top priority in their total rewards offering. Yet many plans are still governed, measured, and delivered for an era when accumulation was the goal. As the first generation to retire largely without pensions moves through the system, the pressure to prove plans work is mounting — and the solutions increasingly point toward guaranteed lifetime income as the missing link.
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Most Pre-Retirees Think About Income. Few Have a Plan for It
New research from LIMRA’s Retirement Income Readiness Report finds that 88% of pre-retirees have thought about how they will generate income in retirement — yet 50% lack a meaningful or recently updated written plan, and only 40% work with a financial advisor. The result is a retirement confidence gap that savings alone will not close. The study, which surveyed 486 pre-retirees and 804 retirees aged 45 and older, finds that only 1 in 4 pre-retirees believe their protected lifetime income sources will cover their essential expenses in retirement. By contrast, 78% of pre-retirees who already have a pension or annuity report high retirement preparedness — compared to just 50% of those without either. Three-quarters of pre-retirees say they want to learn more about protected lifetime income options. The findings make a clear case: thinking about retirement income is not the same as planning for it, and the gap between the two is where retirement security is most at risk.
Annuities Outperform Withdrawal Strategies. The Research Is Clear.
A new study by economists Gaobo Pang and Mark Warshawsky stress-tests four major retirement income strategies — pure systematic withdrawals, full annuitization, and two forms of partial annuitization — across a wide range of wealth levels, health statuses, risk preferences, and market conditions. The verdict is unambiguous: partial annuitization outperforms in nearly every scenario tested. Pure withdrawal strategies preserve flexibility but expose retirees to longevity risk and sequence-of-returns risk that significantly threatens long-term income security. Full annuitization maximizes income stability but eliminates liquidity and bequest potential. Partial annuitization — converting a meaningful portion of savings into guaranteed lifetime income while keeping the remainder invested — captures the advantages of both without the primary drawbacks of either. The study also finds that SECURE 2.0 has removed a key tax disadvantage that previously penalized partial annuitization, and that delaying Social Security to age 70 improves outcomes across every income strategy tested. For the millions of Americans retiring without a pension, the research offers a clear framework for building retirement income that lasts.
The 401(k) Is Not Delivering. Employers Are Starting to Admit It
A new survey of 547 U.S. defined contribution plan sponsors from WTW finds that employers increasingly value their retirement plans — but many cannot demonstrate whether those plans are actually helping employees retire on time and with financial confidence. Only 60% of plan sponsors have even a working definition of retirement readiness, and the definitions they use vary widely: income replacement, retiring on time, and retirement confidence each cited by roughly 40% of sponsors. The result is what WTW calls a retirement outcomes gap — a structural mismatch between what employers expect their DC plans to deliver and what those plans were built to do. Three in four employers rank retirement savings as a core or top priority in their total rewards offering. Yet many plans are still governed, measured, and delivered for an era when accumulation was the goal. As the first generation to retire largely without pensions moves through the system, the pressure to prove plans work is mounting — and the solutions increasingly point toward guaranteed lifetime income as the missing link.
Most Pre-Retirees Think About Income. Few Have a Plan for It
New research from LIMRA’s Retirement Income Readiness Report finds that 88% of pre-retirees have thought about how they will generate income in retirement — yet 50% lack a meaningful or recently updated written plan, and only 40% work with a financial advisor. The result is a retirement confidence gap that savings alone will not close. The study, which surveyed 486 pre-retirees and 804 retirees aged 45 and older, finds that only 1 in 4 pre-retirees believe their protected lifetime income sources will cover their essential expenses in retirement. By contrast, 78% of pre-retirees who already have a pension or annuity report high retirement preparedness — compared to just 50% of those without either. Three-quarters of pre-retirees say they want to learn more about protected lifetime income options. The findings make a clear case: thinking about retirement income is not the same as planning for it, and the gap between the two is where retirement security is most at risk.
Three in Four Workers Fear Retirement Will Be Less Secure Than Their Parents
BlackRock’s 2026 Read on Retirement survey of 1,312 workplace savers finds that 76% believe their generation will have less certainty about retirement income than previous generations — a survey-series high, up from 67% in 2021. Nearly two-thirds worry about outliving their savings, and the data shows broad demand for guaranteed income, active management, and personalized guidance. At the same time, a Morningstar report finds that assets in target-date funds with embedded annuity options grew 70% year over year to $44 billion by the end of the first quarter of 2026 — still less than 1% of the $4.8 trillion target-date universe, but growing fast. Major firms including BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, JPMorgan Asset Management, and TIAA are all expanding annuity-style products within 401(k) plans, responding to what retirement industry leaders describe as a pivotal shift from exploration to execution. A notable gap also emerged: women are 44% less likely than men to adopt guaranteed income solutions despite living longer and facing greater longevity risk.
The Case Against Annuities Doesn’t Hold Up. Here’s the Research
A working paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research finds that most people buy far fewer annuities than economic models suggest they should — and that the common objections used to explain this gap do not hold up under scrutiny. The research examines the standard arguments against annuities: fees, loss of liquidity, bequest motives, and the idea that Social Security already provides enough guaranteed income. It finds that while these objections sound reasonable in the abstract, they apply only to a narrow subset of retirees and require a level of financial sophistication to evaluate that most people do not have. The real barrier to annuity adoption, the paper concludes, is not that the products are unsuitable — it is that the systems and conversations through which people encounter them are poorly designed. Better institutional framing, smarter defaults, and clearer guidance at the point of decision are more likely to close the gap than any amount of financial education delivered in isolation.
Gen X Is More Anxious About Retirement Than Boomers. Here’s Why.
Global Atlantic’s 2026 Retirement Outlook Survey, which polled 1,011 consumers ages 55 to 75 with $250,000 to $2 million in investable assets and 505 financial professionals, finds that first-wave Gen Xers — those now ages 55 to 60 — are entering the final stretch before retirement with significantly more anxiety than Boomers. Twenty-eight percent of Gen Xers said they are extremely or very concerned about having enough income to last their lifetime, double the rate of Boomers at 14%. Nearly half of Gen Xers anticipated returning to work after retirement due to financial concerns, compared with 21% of Boomers. The survey also reveals that 38% of respondents do not have a specific retirement income plan despite all working with a financial professional — and that 69% of consumers are concerned Social Security will not provide full benefits for the rest of their lives. The findings point to a generation navigating a retirement transition without the pension safety net that many previous retirees relied on, at a moment of elevated healthcare costs and economic uncertainty.