The retirement system in America has a fundamental problem. It’s not that people don’t know they should save, or that they’re unwilling. It’s that they don’t have access. If you’re with a big employer that offers a 401(k), chances are you’re covered. If you’re not, odds are you’re on the outside looking in. That gap isn’t just frustrating, it’s a failure of how we structure opportunity.
But it doesn’t have to be.
The future of retirement lies with platforms that understand something simple: access isn’t just a feature. It is the strategy. The companies that will lead are the ones that make real retirement options available to everyone, not just to the segments that have traditionally been easy to serve.
People want to save for retirement. When you give them the tools, especially when it’s automatic, they use them. The real issue is that millions of workers don’t even get the chance. Gig workers, freelancers, part-timers, employees at small businesses – they’re often completely disconnected from the system.
It’s not about motivation. It’s the structure. Traditional retirement systems were never built to support low-balance accounts or people without employer sponsorship. Serving those accounts hasn’t been cost-effective, so most of the industry simply didn’t bother.
That’s left us with a system that scales for a few and shuts out the rest.
Fixing it means shifting how we think about retirement altogether. It’s not about slapping on a new product label or shaving a few basis points off fees. It’s about creating infrastructure that works for more people efficiently, sustainably, and at scale.
True platforms don’t just offer services; they make it easier for others to offer them too. They cut complexity. They turn manual work into automation. They make inclusion cost-effective instead of cost-prohibitive. That’s how change happens.
It’s a bit like cloud computing for retirement. Instead of every provider building their own stack, they tap into infrastructure that’s already built for scale.
Across financial services, we’re seeing a move toward broader access. More states are rolling out auto-IRA programs for workers without access through their jobs. Younger consumers expect digital-first experiences. Advisors are widening their focus beyond high-net-worth clients.
Through all of this, one thing stands out: inclusion isn’t just good policy. It’s smart business. The fintech boom proved that large, overlooked segments – once seen as too expensive or complex –
can become engines of growth when given simple, intuitive tools.
Retirement’s no different. The next wave of growth won’t come from squeezing more value out of the top tier. It’ll come from creating access for everyone else.
But that only works with the right infrastructure. You can’t scale inclusion on top of legacy systems. You can’t serve a thousand small accounts using the same methods you’d use for a single large one.
You need systems that are modular, cloud-based, and built from the ground up to automate what used to take entire back-office teams.
That’s what makes inclusion real. Not just policy. Not just awareness. Infrastructure.
When you shift the underlying economics, everything changes. What used to be a burden becomes an opportunity. What used to be out of reach becomes automatic.
The retirement landscape is moving quickly. The platforms that open the door wider will win, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense. The organizations that embrace this shift won’t just grow; they’ll help define what retirement looks like in the modern world.
This isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about building systems that reflect how people live and work now – and making sure they have a shot at the future they’re working toward.
Access isn’t an add-on. It’s the main event.
