Plan Sponsors Believe 33% of Employees Are on Track for Retirement, 68% of Workers Express More Optimistic View Even While Confronting Competing Financial Pressures
Holistic Support, Personalization and Enhanced Investment Solutions Are Key to Better Serve Retirement Needs
NEW YORK – February 2, 2026 - According to the inaugural 2025 Goldman Sachs Asset Management Plan Sponsor Retirement Survey, plan sponsors believe only 33% of employees are on track for retirement, while 68% of workers are optimistic about their retirement preparedness. That said, 58% of these same working respondents express the belief they will outlive their savings.
In addition, the vast majority (90%) of plan sponsors believe there are needs and/or demographic trends within their retirement plan that warrant attention. They are considering investment menu changes, offering improved communication, and personalizing the savings experience to help employees meet their retirement needs in today’s environment.
In the October 2025 Goldman Sachs Asset Management Retirement Survey, 42% of younger working respondents (Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X) stated they are living paycheck to paycheck and almost three-quarters (74%) reported challenges in saving for retirement due to the effects of the “Financial Vortex” of competing financial priorities.
“The plan sponsors we surveyed recognize that savers face a wide range of individual challenges putting considerable pressure on their ability to increase their retirement savings. Consequently, these employers are actively rethinking plan design options. Enhanced investment solutions and personalized education and advice services can help employees navigate their financial journeys,” said Greg Wilson, Global Head of Retirement for Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Recognizing Demographic Trends with Evolving Financial Benefit Programs
Sponsors are aware of the financial stress affecting employees and considering ways to strengthen their financial benefit programs. Top priorities include improving employees’ financial stability and retirement readiness (72%), helping employees understand and maximize benefits available to them (70%) and addressing workforce management concerns (48%).
They also recognize that employees struggle to keep their retirement savings on track, attributing competing priorities (58%) and lack of investment confidence (52%) as the top two barriers.
Sponsors also believe the following demographic trends aren’t fully addressed by their organizations’ 401(k) plan/403(b) plans:
- 57%: Retirement readiness of older employees
- 53%: Employees’ ability to save for retirement given other pressing financial needs
- 47%: Participation rates of younger employees
Meanwhile, employees have expressed their own retirement savings challenges, all centered around the impacts of the “Financial Vortex” of competing financial needs. In the Goldman Sachs Asset Management Retirement report, The New Economics of Retirement, workers identified too many expenses (67%), financial hardship (64%), caring for family (62%), credit card debt (58%), paying down loans (57%), time away from workforce (55%) and saving for college (49%) as top factors affecting their ability to save for retirement.
Investment Menu Innovation: Personalization and Private Market Strategies
Plan sponsors recognize the potential for enhanced investment solutions to help their employees meet retirement investment goals. They are considering these investment menu changes for the next 12 months:
- 45%: Enhancing inflation protection options
- 43%: Adding personalized investment solutions like managed accounts
- 42%: Integrating private market strategies, such as private credit and private equity
Furthermore, sponsors would like the industry to focus on these investment menu innovations:
- 54%: Adding private market strategies to help enhance return and diversification of multi-asset investment options
- 53%: Integrating guaranteed income options into multi-asset investment options
- 47%: Implementing a diversified inflation strategy designed to help mitigate the effects of inflationary environments
- 46%: Personalized, holistic retirement planning advice
Notably, the desire for plan enhancement is shared by employees, as illustrated in our 2025 Retirement Survey, where respondents cited personalized investment portfolios that match unique savings needs (71%) as the most beneficial menu enhancement, followed by a professionally managed investment option that seeks higher long-term returns with potentially higher investment risk (65%). Additionally, a broader range of asset classes (61%), investment options to help manage income for life (52%) and fewer investment options to simplify investment choices (50%) round out the top choices.
“These survey findings highlight that plan sponsors recognize the challenges faced by savers, and that there are new ways to rethink plan design. We believe improved investment outcomes, personalizing the savings experience and integrating retirement income services can increase support for employees’ financial journeys. Many realize that what’s available today isn’t fully addressing these challenges. With a range of new innovations on the horizon, savers will have more tools to help them reach retirement prepared,” said Chris Ceder, Senior Retirement Strategist, Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
Plans Sponsors Want Retirees to Stay in the Plan; Retirement Income Remains a Top Consideration
In the survey, 74% of plan sponsors encourage participants to stay in the plan; they believe enhancing tools for managing retirement finances (51%), adding lifetime income options (48%), and broadening investment lineups (48%) are top ways to do so.
Among plan sponsors, the top goal for offering retirement income in their 401(k) or 403(b) plans is to provide income that is guaranteed for life relative to other stable income or growth-oriented options (29%), followed by investments that provide growth that can be withdrawn as needed (20%), and stable and consistent income that grows with inflation (18%).
Methodology: We evaluated survey responses from plan sponsors, in both human resources and finance roles, to understand how they approach plan design and what investment, advice and retirement income features they may be considering to support a growing list of employee needs. Survey respondents spanned 250 plan sponsors that offer a 401(k) or 403(b) plan and have at least $300M in plan assets (44% of our plan sponsor sample had above $1B in plan assets). Respondents were senior level decision makers that were responsible for plan design and/or administration for selecting and/or evaluating plan providers. Throughout this report, we also highlight responses from our 2025 Retirement Survey & Insights Report, which surveyed over 5,000 retired and working individuals. Results as of July 2025.
About Goldman Sachs Asset Management: Goldman Sachs Asset Management is the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs, delivering investment and advisory services across public and private markets for the world’s leading institutions, financial advisors, and individuals. The business is driven by a focus on partnership and shared success with its clients, seeking to deliver long-term investment performance drawing on its global network and deep expertise across industries and markets. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is a leading investor across fixed income, liquidity, equity, alternatives, and multi-asset solutions. Goldman Sachs oversees approximately $3.6 trillion in assets under supervision as of December 31, 2025. Follow us on LinkedIn.