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By Gene Natali
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Retirement in America has changed so quietly that most people have not noticed how much responsibility moved with it.
In March 2025, only 14 percent of private-industry workers had access to a defined benefit plan (i.e., pension), while 70 percent had access to a defined contribution plan, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
To me, those numbers capture more than a change in retirement planning. They reflect a much larger shift in who is expected to prepare for life after work: you.
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For generations, a pension did more than provide income. It created structure. A worker could spend a career knowing that part of retirement had already been organized around them.
Today, many people are instead expected to decide how much to save, where to invest, how to respond when markets move, and eventually how to turn accumulated savings into lasting financial security.
I am not arguing that individual ownership is the problem. In many respects, I believe it can be empowering.
My concern is that we transferred much of that responsibility faster than we developed the support people need to manage it confidently.
The Federal Reserve offers some perspective on that challenge. Its 2026 report on household economic well-being found that only 35 percent of non-retirees believed their retirement savings plan was on track.
Personal Finance Is Bigger Than a Letter Grade
I do not read that number as evidence that Americans simply do not care enough about retirement. I see it as a reason to question whether access to an account, by itself, gives people enough support to prepare effectively.
This is also why I resist treating financial education as the complete answer. Personal finance is bigger than a letter grade. Education matters, but I see it as the beginning of a sequence: education, access, engagement, guidance, and execution.
People need to understand their options, have somewhere to take their questions, receive useful guidance, and then be able to act on what they have learned.
The retirement system once carried more of that support within its structure. The U.S. Department of Labor has documented the long-term movement of private retirement plans away from defined benefit arrangements and toward defined contribution plans.
As that model changed, individuals increasingly became responsible for decisions that were once more closely embedded within the retirement system.
In my view, the infrastructure surrounding those decisions now needs to evolve as well.
A Place To Start
Workplaces are an obvious place to begin. Offering a retirement account matters, but I believe employees should also have more direct support, helping them understand why that conversation matters, how that account relates to their long-term goals, and where they can go when questions arise.
Saving for the future should feel connected to working life rather than becoming another complicated financial project people are expected to navigate alone.
I see a similar opportunity in universities and communities. Every graduating class will include people entering vastly different professions, but nearly all of them will spend their lives making decisions about money.
Historically, a diploma led to a job, a job led to a pension, and a pension led to some degree of financial stability.
But times have changed drastically.
The Industry Can Do More
Today, only a small fraction of young adults follow that traditional path, leaving the overwhelming majority responsible for building their own financial stability without a preset road map.
While we may not be able to anticipate every financial choice they will face, we can make credible information and pathways to guidance easier to find.
The financial-services industry has a responsibility here, too. I do not believe it should wait at the other end of the process for people to arrive already informed, confident, and prepared to act.
The industry can do more to reduce unnecessary friction, communicate in language people can understand, and make appropriate support easier to reach.
Yet individuals still have to take responsibility for their financial future. But responsibility should not mean having to navigate every decision alone.
Accessible Support
People can be expected to save, make informed choices, and act on their goals while still having access to clear information and reliable guidance when they need it.
Personal responsibility works best when the system around it makes that responsibility easier to carry.
Without accessible support, people will naturally look for answers wherever they can find them. Some sources may prove useful, while others may provide information that is incomplete or poorly suited to an individual’s circumstances.
I would rather see the financial industry respond to that cry for help by making its own expertise easier to reach.
That requires more than another financial-literacy campaign or another digital tool. I believe employers, financial institutions, universities, and community organizations should think about how people actually move from understanding a financial goal to asking questions, receiving guidance, and eventually taking action.
The individual must cross that bridge, but it’s our job to build the bridge in the first place.
Gene Natali, CFA, is the founder and CEO of Troutwood, a financial-technology company that offers products related to the financial-support infrastructure discussed in this article.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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