Milken Global Conference Panel Discusses Opportunities to Shift the American Retirement Saving Mindset

Milken Global Conference Panel Discusses Opportunities to Shift the American Retirement Saving Mindset

In a year when more Americans will turn 65 in the United States than at any point in history, one-third of current retirees aged 60-65 are considering returning to work, with half citing the fear of running out of money as their top reason for doing so according to a recent study from the Nationwide Retirement Institute®. This represents a true retirement crisis, according to leaders participating in a panel discussion at the Milken Global Conference who came together to discuss how the financial industry can collaborate to address the challenges facing American retirees and revolutionize our country's retirement landscape.

The discussion focused on opportunities to bridge the retirement security gap faced by millions of Americans, including increasing access to retirement plan benefits and financial advice and making retirement benefits more automatic for more people. The group discussed the emergence of in-plan protected retirement solutions and opportunities for the industry to partner to better meet the needs of young people, underserved communities and retirement savers in general.

"If you have access to pension-like income streams and you're working with a financial professional, you're going to have a much better chance of achieving your retirement goals, but you're probably going to have a lot less anxiety as well," observed John Carter, President and COO of Nationwide Financial, as the group discussed the need to help retirement savers generate guaranteed income in retirement.

Carter was joined by Thasunda Brown Duckett, President and CEO of TIAA; Will Fuller, President and CEO of Transamerica; and Penny Pennington, Managing Partner for Edward Jones, in the discussion. The panel was moderated by Pension & Investments' Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Alban.

"I've been in this business for 40 years, and what I see from an industry standpoint - in some ways all of our firms collaborate, partner, cooperate and innovate together and separately as well," Carter said. "I think that level of creativity and innovation is one of the things that's going to move us through this crisis because no one firm is going to have all of the good ideas."

Carter shared additional thoughts on opportunities he sees to shift the American retirement saving mindset in this Power of Ideas Essay.

Watch a replay of this panel discussion

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