2026 Read on Retirement: A new era of retirement
By Black Rock
When we look at confidence, we see savers who feel better about retirement than they have in years. But beneath that optimism, retirement income expectations and savings behavior tell a different story. And that gap is not experienced equally. Retirement challenges increasingly vary by generation and gender— revealing a retirement system that is
becoming more individualized.
Workplace savers increasingly know what they need to do, but competing financial priorities are making it harder to act. The challenge is less about awareness and more about capacity, and those constraints vary significantly across participant groups. Participants are responding by looking to new capabilities—from active management and private markets to guaranteed income and tailored guidance— that can help close the gap. And sponsors are expanding the retirement toolkit and looking for ways to deliver more segmented engagement.
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