Three imperatives in a new era for global retirement

The global retirement market has made significant strides over the past half‑century, marked by the continued development of multi‑pillar retirement systems and substantial increases in asset values. Yet many of the conditions that aided this progress are shifting, ushering in a new and more complex era for retirement savers.

Slower global economic growth,¹ declining working‑age populations, and the positive trend of increased longevity are placing growing strains on national public pension systems.² Meanwhile, elevated geopolitical tensions and inflation are creating a more volatile and uncertain market environment.

Understanding how these historic shifts are affecting individual savers across geographies—and addressing those impacts to optimize retirement outcomes—will be a defining challenge for T. Rowe Price, the broader retirement industry, and policymakers worldwide.

In the face of this challenge, I see three imperatives to address on behalf of retirement savers globally:

1. Delivering one‑on‑one financial advice and support on a global scale
2. Expanding retirement solutions that are purpose‑built for local markets and individual needs
3. Championing a stronger infrastructure for retirement savings

Defining the challenge

T. Rowe Price has carefully studied retirement plan design and savings behaviors in the U.S. for decades, with participant insights dating back to our first retirement accounts in 1974. In 2025, we expanded upon our U.S.‑focused research to better understand how savers around the world are faring amid economic change and to compare experiences across different retirement systems.

The result was our inaugural Global Retirement Savers Study (GRSS),³ a sweeping analysis of similarities and differences in the financial health, perspectives, and priorities of retirement savers by country. The study specifically spanned the five largest retirement markets—Australia, Canada, Japan, the UK, and the U.S.—all of which are grappling with longer‑term risks around retirement adequacy as retirement savings struggle to keep pace with life expectancy.⁴

A confidence deficit

One of the most striking takeaways from the GRSS data is how consistent the fundamental challenges are globally, even as each country maintains its unique retirement framework. While a meaningful share (35%) of individuals surveyed expressed great excitement about their future retirement, across geographies, retirement savers’ overall financial confidence appears frayed.

Whether in Canada, the UK, or the U.S., savers, on average, indicate that they are making moderate contributions to their workplace or organization retirement accounts. However, many doubt they are setting aside enough for a comfortable retirement, even when employer contributions are included (Fig. 1).

Everyday expenses and competing savings priorities are causing financial stress for far too many retirement savers. While stress over personal finances is generally lower among older generations (Fig. 2a), retirement saving is one area where worry persists (Fig. 2b).

The shared nature of savers’ financial unease, in my view, reflects the new economic realities of our time: higher‑trend inflation, uneven growth, and more volatile markets. Retirement savers globally are wrestling with these macro trends and rank inflation, geopolitics, and higher interest rates as their top concerns.⁵

Imperative 1: Delivering one‑on‑one advice and support on a global scale

To help retirement savers thrive in this complicated environment, we as an industry will need to deliver financial advice, tools, and education more comprehensively.

Notably, GRSS respondents identified one‑on‑one consultations with a financial advisor as the most helpful format to learn about retirement,⁶ and they consistently cited their workplace or organization’s retirement plan as a primary source of financial guidance.

The GRSS data underscore the strong link between confidence and engagement with financial resources. Globally, savers who feel very confident about their retirement are not only more likely to rely on professional guidance, they also find retirement education programs offered through their employer or organization to be more helpful and accessible. In contrast, nearly half of survey participants with low retirement confidence are unaware of or lack access to such resources, further reinforcing retirement uncertainty.

This creates an opportunity to pair retirement plans with one‑on‑one advice and counseling, helping ensure that more retirement savers are able to develop achievable goals and actionable steps. Emergency savings options can augment these resources, better enabling individuals to stay on track toward their goals and maintain peace of mind at every stage of their retirement journey.

Imperative 2: Building local, personalized retirement solutions for better outcomes

In addition to these resources, savers will need access to a broader suite of retirement solutions—because while individuals worldwide face similar headwinds, the path to a confident retirement looks different for everyone.

In a volatile investment climate, some retirement investors will benefit from target date (or life cycle) solutions that aim for a smoother ride through retirement while still supporting long‑term outcomes. Amid increased life expectancy and economic uncertainty, many individuals will require a multidimensional approach to the spending phase of retirement—one that lets them choose, as appropriate, from a mix of managed payout tools, annuity options, and liquidity profiles that meet their diverse needs. This approach may take on even greater importance as many retirement markets continue to shift away from defined benefit plans.

In some cases, we will need to cast a wider net across asset classes to build more resilient retirement portfolios. Private assets, for instance, are poised to play a more consistent role in parts of the retirement landscape, supported by a growing recognition that diversification extends beyond public markets. However, individuals will need investment providers who can not only skillfully navigate private markets but also explain how private asset building blocks can align with their goals.

A smarter approach

As we leverage our capabilities to expand retirement solutions, we must employ a smarter, more localized approach, understanding that a target date strategy in Canada should look different from one in Japan. This is because each country has its own retirement framework and distinct economic and demographic characteristics.

For example, expectations around potential aspects of retirement, such as part‑time work or the ability to leave money to future generations, vary meaningfully by country (Fig. 3). We should increase the availability of diversified portfolios constructed to reflect such differences, factoring in national demographics, prevalent employer benefit structures, and other local market nuances to help optimize the retirement experience for each country.

However, building retirement solutions for each country is only part of the equation, as each individual has their own life experience and retirement objectives. The GRSS results point to this reality.

Globally, savers show no consensus on when they plan to retire.⁷ While some target a specific age, others aim for government benefit eligibility or certain savings levels. Income replacement goals also differ, with higher earners looking to replace a larger percentage of their working‑age income in retirement.

These and other complexities call for more dynamic solutions that help savers achieve the retirement experience they desire. Leveraging individual data to deliver personalized asset allocations is a natural progression toward this goal, one that is starting to gain traction in the U.S. However, widespread adoption on a global scale will entail engagement with a range of stakeholders, including retirement policymakers.

Imperative 3: Championing a stronger retirement infrastructure

This leads to a final imperative: a shared commitment from the public sector to help savers attain retirement security.

Favorably, countries around the world are widening pathways for long‑term retirement investing, elevating the importance of private savings in the retirement landscape. Yet greater and more urgent action is needed to sustain the viability of national public pension systems (such as Social Security in the U.S.), which face intensifying funding pressures. These systems form the foundation of retirement security in many countries and should be placed on sound footing. Until comprehensive policy actions are taken, however, our industry will likely shoulder more responsibility for retirement outcomes.

This makes it even more critical that we promote universal principles to strengthen the private savings infrastructure globally: automatic enrollment and escalation features to help boost participation and overall retirement assets, emergency savings options to help savers manage unexpected expenses, and robust investment defaults—such as target date solutions—that ensure adequate diversification.

These principles can and should take on unique characteristics as countries learn from one another and refine their retirement frameworks to best suit local populations.

Building confidence through partnership

As a global investment manager and a leader in retirement, our firm recognizes the magnitude of the current moment. Savers worldwide deserve to feel confident in their retirement prospects. They need partners who understand that their financial concerns, from inflation to housing costs, aren’t separate from retirement saving but central to it. They need solutions that are sophisticated enough to navigate increasingly complicated markets, yet personal enough to address their unique goals and challenges.

This is why we’re expanding our capabilities on a global scale, combining our history of investment excellence with an up‑close knowledge of local markets and individual preferences. It’s why we’ve led the way on in‑plan emergency savings accounts in the U.S., introduced target date solutions in multiple countries accounting for local factors, and designed comprehensive income offerings for a “paycheck like” experience in retirement. It’s also why we’ve further evolved our retirement solutions to include personalized portfolios for tailored outcomes.

As we pursue these and other initiatives, we will continue to listen carefully to the concerns and aspirations of retirement savers, letting them be our guide.

The obstacles that retirement savers face are significant, but so is our commitment. We invite employers and organizations that sponsor retirement plans, intermediaries, and others to join us in building a more confident retirement future.