What does this planning gap reveal about how consumers are preparing for retirement and where are they most likely to need help?

yeah the good news is like you mentioned that uh awareness is really high uh but unfortunately the action is is very low uh 88 as you said are thinking about retirement income but half have no updated or written plan and roughly three quarters have no meaningful plan at all most americans today actually spend more time planning their two-week vacation than they do their finances What that really tells us is there's an engagement gap, not necessarily an awareness gap.

And planning feels complex.

Solutions can be intimidating or confusing and costly in some perceptions.

So people stall before they even start.

What we need to really focus on is really a simpler on-ramp, and we need to make this easier for people.

And the readiness, resilience, and retirement income lens, plus guidance that turns an overwhelming task into guided conversations are really important.

Bill, looking ahead, as more Americans retirement without traditional pensions, what trends will have the greatest impact on retirement income security? What role will insurers play in addressing these challenges? And how is LIMRA helping its members navigate these challenges and better serve consumers?

But I'm curious whether it's that or are there other, are there other, other things that have surprised you, uh, as challenges as you've taken this journey?

Yeah.

I mean, when I look at this, there's a few takeaways that came.

One, I was happy to see demand is, is mainstream first and foremost, right? So we know people are interested in at least thinking about, you know, retirement income, you know, as a whole.

So I think that's number one, which is good.

Um, number two, uh, we saw confidence comes through a combination of products and asset classes as a whole, right? So when you start thinking about protected income and, and if annuities play a role in that, when I say protected income, it could be multiple different sources, but n- that diversification alone and having some of that help people feel more comfortable.

I think the biggest one for me, or one of the biggest ones, was, uh, really around we need to widen access to guidance, and Bruno touched on this a little bit earlier.

Mm