Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today released “From Access to Adequacy: Modeling Universal Automated Savings,” a new analysis from Morningstar’s Center for Retirement & Policy Studies examining how federal savings policies could help more Americans prepare financially for retirement.
Researchers used Morningstar’s Model of U.S. Retirement Outcomes to evaluate a combined policy scenario reflecting ideas under discussion among policymakers and policy experts, rather than a specific legislative proposal. The scenario includes expanded retirement savings access, broader automatic enrollment, periodic reenrollment, and an expanded Saver’s Match.
Under the modeled policy scenario, 67% of Gen Z, millennial, and Gen X households are projected to have sufficient resources to cover retirement expenses, compared with 59% under the baseline scenario. That means eight more households out of every 100 could be more financially prepared for retirement.
“Access to a retirement plan is important, but access alone does not guarantee that workers will participate, or save enough,” said Spencer Look, associate director of retirement studies, Morningstar Retirement. “Our models show that automatic savings, could result in meaningful improvements to retirement security, especially for younger workers, and those disconnected from workplace retirement plans.”
Models indicate that younger households could stand to benefit the most, with retirement readiness rising by 12 percentage points for Gen Z, 10 percentage points for millennials, and 5 percentage points for Gen X. Lower-and middle-income households also could see larger gains than higher-income households.
Morningstar’s researchers modeled the policy scenario as a whole and conducted additional analyses to assess how the results would differ if certain provisions were excluded. These analyses suggest that one provision alone was not driving the results. Sensitivity analyses incorporating higher opt-out rates and preretirement withdrawals continued to show improvements in projected retirement adequacy, although the magnitude of the gains varied with the assumptions.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar serves investors and financial professionals across the investment ecosystem, from individuals and advisors to asset managers, retirement plan providers, institutions, and issuers. Through independent data, analytics and research; credit ratings; indexes; and investment management and services, Morningstar helps them evaluate opportunities, manage risk, and break down the barriers that can stand in the way of their goals. More than $3.6 trillion in assets are linked to Morningstar indexes, and Morningstar offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries with approximately $398.7 billion in assets under management and advisement as of Sept. 30, 2026. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc and LinkedIn.
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