The big picture: A new Gallagher report reveals only 23% of U.S. workers have an advisor-built financial plan, creating a significant confidence gap in retirement readiness.

Why it matters: Despite widespread access to retirement plans, employees lack personalized guidance, leading to account leakage and financial insecurity that impacts workforce stability and productivity.

Between the lines:

• Only 23% of employees have worked with a financial advisor for a plan.
• An 81% confidence rate for those with a plan versus 50% for those without.
• Just 5% of employers offer emergency savings programs, despite SECURE 2.0.

Staffing & HR impact: The lack of financial literacy and emergency savings among employees can increase stress, reduce retention, and impact overall workforce engagement, requiring HR to consider more holistic financial wellness benefits. Employers face challenges in plan design to integrate personalized guidance and address liquidity issues.

The bottom line: The demand for hyper-personalized financial support and scalable advice solutions, including AI-assisted tools, is growing as employers seek to bridge this critical gap.