10 Encouraging Facts About How America Saves for Retirement

Vanguard has published the 2023 edition of its annual How America Saves report, featuring more than 110 pages of fresh retirement savings data drawn from nearly 5 million American workers. In a press release accompanying the major new report, Tim Buckley, Vanguard chairman and CEO, calls the latest data "encouraging," noting that participation rates in 401(k) plans administered by Vanguard have reached an all-time high. Buckley cites the continued power of design features such as automatic enrollment and automatic annual increases for the success, suggesting automatic solutions have "revolutionized retirement planning" over the last decade. However, as Buckley emphasizes, good retirement outcomes depend not only on the funds one holds but also the advice they get on those funds — and about efficiently turning accumulated assets into a reliable stream of income that will last throughout retirement. Fortunately, he says, the number of Americans with access to both human financial advisors and tech-based advisory solutions in the workplace is also growing alongside the impressive rate of participation. "The next frontier of retirement savings will be advanced by personalized advice that helps investors reach their long-term goals," Buckley suggests. See the gallery for 10 encouraging facts drawn from the new report. As Buckley suggests, the data shows tremendous strides have been made in recent years to improve Americans' retirement readiness, but there is also a lot of work left to be done.