The retirement system has shifted dramatically since 1974, when IRAs were first introduced. It’s time to rethink the system and consider how changes in behavior, coverage, and technology impact how people save.
The system was built for a narrow definition of worker – someone who spends most of their adult life employed full-time by one or two companies, steadily earning, steadily saving, and eventually retiring with a pension or a robust 401(k). That kind of career trajectory is more myth than reality now, and for many people, it never existed in the first place. If we want a retirement system that includes everyone, we need to start thinking bigger, broader, and smarter.
Too many people don’t have access to any retirement plan at all. In the U.S., nearly half the workforce lacks a workplace retirement savings option. We’ve built a system that works if your job fits a certain mold. But work has changed. Millions of people are now freelancers, contract workers, part-time employees, caretakers, or in other roles that fall outside the traditional employer-sponsored benefits model. If the system doesn’t evolve, these people are left behind. But personal solutions alone, no matter how well designed, can’t close the access gap or replace the need for a broader, systemic fix. We need something universal. A default, opt-out retirement savings plan that follows people from job to job, industry to industry, life stage to life stage. Retirement savings should be automatic, portable, and accessible to every worker regardless of their employment classification.
That also means designing around real lives. Life is rarely linear. People take breaks to raise children, go back to school, care for aging parents, recover from illness, or simply navigate a tough economy. These aren’t anomalies. They’re part of the human experience. An improved retirement structure would allow people to pause and restart without losing ground. It would credit people for unpaid care work, which is essential to our society but completely undervalued in the way we allocate retirement benefits. There should be mechanisms in place to let people contribute more in years when they can afford it and less when they can’t, without penalties. The system should flex with your life.
Another barrier is complexity. The retirement planning process is intimidating for the average person. Most people don’t have the time, training, or desire to become amateur financial advisors just to avoid running out of money in their 80s. Yet the system requires that they select the right investment options, weigh risk, calculate withdrawal rates, and plan for a retirement that could span three decades or more. This is not a realistic expectation. We need simpler, smarter defaults. Low-fee, diversified funds should be the baseline. Lifetime income options should be automatically available – not just lump sums. And the entire experience should be designed with behavioral insights that help people stay on course.
Transparency and trust are critical, too. People are naturally wary of systems they don’t understand, and retirement finance has jargon, hidden fees, and fine print. Every account statement should be easy to read and impossible to misinterpret. And every person should have a simple, consolidated view of their retirement picture in one place, no more juggling accounts or guessing at the total. Technology can deliver this.
Ultimately, building a retirement system for everyone isn’t just a technical challenge, it requires rethinking retirement from the ground up.