January 2026

US. For 2026, these 401(k) details ‘matter more than ever,’ advisor says. What you need to know

As more older Americans near retirement, many are eager to boost 401(k) savings to combat the rising cost of health care and other day-to-day expenses. And for 2026, there are key 401(k) changes that investors need to know, financial experts say. This year, “small 401(k) details matter more than ever,” said certified financial planner Joon Um with Secure Tax and Accounting in Hayward, California. For 2026, you can defer up to $24,500 into your 401(k) plan, up from $23,500 in 2025. The full plan limit, which includes employer matches, profit sharing and...

US. What Retirement Savings Look Like for People Under 35

How Many People Under 35 Have Any Retirement Savings If you're in your 20s or early 30s, you may not be thinking much about retirement. Only about half of U.S. households with a reference person under age 35 had any money in retirement accounts in 2022, according to the latest available data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. That makes young adults the working-age group that's the least likely to have dedicated retirement savings.1 This makes sense, of...

Funded status of largest US corporate pension plans now well over 100% for year-end 2025

The funded status of the nation’s largest corporate defined benefit (DB) pension plans improved significantly in 2025, according to an analysis by WTW (NASDAQ: WTW), a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company. WTW examined pension plan data for 349 Fortune 1000 companies that sponsor U.S. DB pension plans and have a December fiscal year-end date. The aggregate pension funded status of these plans at the end of 2025 is estimated to be 104%, an increase from 101% at the...

Equable Institute Analysis: U.S. Public Pension Funds Close 2025 with Strong Returns

Equable Institute released a year-end update to its State of Pensions 2025 report. The analysis finds the aggregate funded ratio for U.S. state and local retirement systems are on track to improve from 78.0% in 2024 to 82.5% in 2025, based on data available through December 31st, 2025. Equable Institute estimates that unfunded liabilities will total $1.27 trillion for the 2025 fiscal year, compared to $1.54 trillion at the end of 2024. Strong market performance and record high contribution rates...

December 2025

Millennial Dilemma: Home ownership or retirement security?

Millennials are facing an unprecedented financial squeeze: 58% of them feel as if they must choose between homeownership and retirement security, according to an Advisor Authority study, powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute. The survey pointed out that as housing prices accelerate ahead of median income wage growth, millennials face a fundamentally different financial environment from their parents, resulting in their adopting different approaches to wealth building. Millennials’ wealth-building approaches Unlike prior generations, said Juan Jose Perez, president of Nationwide Corporate Solutions,...

Charted: U.S. Population Growth by Year (2005-2055)

Key Takeaways In 2025, the U.S. population is forecast to grow 0.2% amid record-low fertility rates and an aging population. Over the next 30 years, population growth is expected to decline to zero. By 2048, population will peak, as net immigration growth and natural population decline (deaths > births) cancel each other out. U.S. population growth is slowing, and is projected to grind to a halt by 2048. Today, historically low fertility means births only marginally exceed deaths. Not only that, within the next...

Lost Pensions, Lost Pensioners: Is a National Registry of Pension Plans the Answer?

By David P. Blake & John A. Turner In the United States and other countries, many retirees face great difficulties in tracing their former employers in order to apply for a pension to which they are entitled. At the same time, pension plans have trouble tracking down pensioners with whom they have lost contact. The problem of lost pensions and lost pensioners was also prevalent in the United Kingdom, but in 1991 the British government established a national registry of...

US. Research Finds Slowdown in Spending During Retirement

Retirement spending is dynamic, with 60% of new retirees seeing their annual expenses fluctuate by more than 20% in the first three years, according to the J.P. Morgan Asset Management report, “Retirement by the Numbers.” “This means that compared to periods just before retirement, they see a 20% jump—up or down—in their annual spending compared to that baseline right before they retire,” Michael Conrath, J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s chief retirement strategist wrote in an email. Older retirees, aged 75 to 80,...

US. New House Bill Revives Push for Automatic Retirement Accounts for Uncovered Workers

Representative Richard Neal D-Massachusetts reintroduced a bill Monday that would mandate employers with 10 or more workers to automatically enroll employees in individual retirement accounts, unless the company already provides a retirement plan. Neal, the ranking member of the House Committee on Ways and Means, said in a statement that the bill would create a retirement savings option for gig workers and other independent contractors who do not have access to defined contribution retirement accounts. “Automatic IRAs are simple and effective, and they have...

US. Retirement Accounts Are The Country’s Emergency Funds

The Charade That “Retirement” Accounts Are For Retirement It’s time we stop the charade. Congress should rename 401(k)s and IRAs what they really are: "Emergency Savings Accounts for the Poor and Middle Class." Because that’s how they function for the bottom 90% of American workers. A new Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) report confirms what retirement experts have long understood: Americans are draining their 401(k)s to survive today, sacrificing tomorrow's security. The study reveals where borrowed retirement dollars actually go—not toward...