ABOUT US
Rethinking retirement
More than half the assets BlackRock manages are for retirement.1 We help about 35 million Americans invest for life after work,2 which amounts to about a quarter of the country’s workers3 – including roughly half of U.S. public school teachers.4
At the same time, nearly half of Americans aged 55 to 65 report not having a single dollar saved in personal retirement accounts.5 Nothing in a pension. Zero in an IRA or 401(k).
This predicament — which exists across the globe — leads us to conclude: It’s time to rethink retirement.
Helping millions retire with dignity
We’re setting out to rethink retirement so that more and more people can build long-term savings for what may be a decades-long retirement. Our aim is to ensure future generations can retire with dignity.
Who we are
We seek to help more people retire with dignity. That means reducing barriers to investing, increasing accessibility and reducing complexity, and solving for increasing longevity.
1. Addressing affordability
Four-in-10 Americans don’t have $400 to spare to cover an emergency like a car repair or hospital visit.6 And we know that it’s hard to save for tomorrow when you’re struggling to make ends meet today. That’s why we established an Emergency Savings Initiative that has helped mostly low-income Americans put away a total of $2 billion in new liquid savings.7
2. Increasing accessibility and reducing complexity
57 million Americans lack access to a workplace retirement plan.8 Yet we know that, when given access, people are 15-20 times more likely to save for retirement.9 And the easier it is to invest, the greater the effect can be. It’s why we pioneered the target date fund over 30 years ago for 401(k) plans, and it’s why we launched the industry’s first target date ETFs last year. It’s also why we support state-facilitated retirement savings programs and have joined efforts with Human Interest, a leader in 401(k) software for small- and medium-sized businesses.
3. Solving for increasing longevity
Living longer should be a blessing. And yet we know one of Americans’ top fears is outliving their savings. That’s because the shift from defined benefit to defined contribution has been, for most people, a shift from financial certainty to financial uncertainty. And it’s why we’ve been developing an investment strategy called LifePath PaycheckTM that could provide both the flexibility of a 401(k) investment and the potential for a predictable, paycheck-like income stream, similar to a pension.
Larry Fink’s 2024 Annual Chairman’s Letter to Investors
In Larry Fink’s letter to investors, he talks about how we can “rethink retirement” and why he believes the capital markets can help meet the needs of tomorrow’s retirees.
Supporting retirement security for Americans
BlackRock is proud to work with the following organizations as we encourage a renewed discussion in the United States on the need to rethink retirement:
- Alliance for Prosperity and a Secure Retirement
- American Retirees Education Foundation
- Aspen Institute Financial Security Program
- Bipartisan Policy Center
- Center for Retirement Research at Boston College
- Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association
- Employee Benefit Research Institute
- Engage: Promoting Women’s Economic Security
- Georgetown University’s Center for Retirement Initiatives at the McCourt School of Public Policy
- National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators
- National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems
- National Institute on Retirement Security
