Pre-Retirees Seek Retirement Saving Agency but Lack Investment Savvy, per Edelman

When the switch from defined benefit to defined contribution plans took place in the retirement industry, most plan participants had to learn how to save as an independent agent, instead of fully relying on a pension to manage their retirement income.

Now pre-retirees are embracing this agency, with most of those surveyed (84%) wanting to play an active role in their retirement planning and decisionmaking, according to the inaugural “Financial Confidence Report” from Edelman Financial Engines.

“People want to understand the investments they’re in, the risks they’re taking and how that can benefit them, financially speaking,” says Michael Liersch, Edelman’s chief planning officer.

However, alongside an increased interest in taking the driver’s seat for their savings, participants are experiencing a lack of knowledge needed to successfully make informed investment decisions, with the report finding 60% of respondents did not know how their retirement savings were invested.

“Many admit that they don’t know what that [investment] strategy is,” Liersch says. “We should be enabling and empowering participants to be actively focused and engaged on what’s in their plan and give them the opportunity to ask the questions that they have and get the advice that they need. I think for plan advisers [and] for sponsors, that’s a really great opportunity to go beyond your traditional target-date fund [or] ‘set it and forget it’ strategy.”

Economic Stressors

In addition to a knowledge gap, participants also showed a tendency to let their attitude toward investments be influenced by current macroeconomic effects. Nearly half (48%) of respondents said they felt financially stressed, and their most-cited stressors included the economy in general (52%), personal finances (41%) and the political climate (26%).

In addition, when plan participants were asked about Social Security, 74% said they were concerned their benefits would get cut.

Similarly, in a separate report released by asset management company Schroders PLC, 52% of surveyed nonretired Americans were concerned or very concerned about outliving retirement assets.

According to Schroders’ 2026 U.S. Retirement Survey, most pre-retiree respondents were uncertain that they would be able to replace 75% of their last paycheck with retirement income, with just 16% saying they would “definitely” be able to.

“Our survey findings reveal a blind spot that many don’t discover until it’s too late. Planning for retirement isn’t just about how much you save—it’s about knowing how you’ll turn that savings into a reliable income stream,” said Deb Boyden, Schroders’ head of U.S. defined contribution, in a statement. “Far too many people retire without a clear strategy for making their money last, and that uncertainty can be just as stressful as not having saved enough in the first place.”

Nearly half (48%) of Schroders respondents were also concerned that the growth of artificial intelligence will force them into retirement sooner than planned.

Edelman’s respondents also cited AI development when they listed political concerns, which Liersch says places emphasis on the importance of human advice.

“It’s so important to have that human advice available to people, because people are … looking at [AI moguls] Sam [Altman], Elon [Musk] and Dario [Amodei] talk about AI and the potential benefits, but also the potential risks,” Liersch says. “They’re looking at their own pocketbooks and inflation and what things cost at the grocery store [and] gas prices. These are all real stressors at the macro and the micro level. All of this serves to make that financial confidence gap feel even wider than it might be, because it’s hard to exert control over things you don’t have control over.”

Greenwald Research conducted an online survey for Edelman of U.S. respondents ages 30 and older in October 2025.

Schroders’ survey was conducted by 8 Acre Perspective among 1,500 U.S. investors ages 30 through 79 from March 20 to April 15.