The 2024 Benefits Landscape: What Employees Really Want Copy 3

April 1, 2026

Chris Porter

Chris Porter holds an MBA and has achieved top-level performance with leading insurance carriers — all while staying focused on what matters most: doing right by clients.

What's the fundamental problem the United States is facing when it comes to retirement security?

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

blog image

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

What's the fundamental problem the United States is facing when it comes to retirement security?

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

blog image

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has largely eroded. In 1975, about 39% of private-sector workers were covered by a defined benefit pension plan. By 2023, that had fallen to 11%. Social Security, even if fully solvent, only replaces about 40% of pre-retirement income. Our Wealth Watch research finds that less than one in five Americans say they have a retirement strategy. People have spent their careers focused on accumulation, but turning those assets into a reliable income stream is a fundamentally different challenge. It requires a different set of tools.

The math is hard, and it's getting harder. More than 11,000 Americans are turning 65 every day, a pace that will continue through 2030.¹ And yet the traditional infrastructure that supported previous generations in retirement has

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