Just 28% of employees believe their savings strategy will get them to their retirement goals, pushing employers to measure what their benefits deliver. 

Offering a retirement plan has long been the standard measure of a solid benefits package. That measure is shifting. While 85% of employers still offer retirement benefits, a new report from Gallagher found that only 28% of employees believe their current savings strategy will let them reach their retirement goals. Among workers age 55 and older, 30% name retirement planning as their biggest financial stressor. 

Employers aren’t standing still, though. With the SECURE 2.0 Act making auto-enrollment and auto-escalation mandatory for most new retirement plans, 57% of employers now use auto-enrollment, and 33% use auto-escalation. So what else are they doing to turn access into results? 

According to Gallagher’s research, which surveyed 3,717 US organizations, they are putting more personalized guidance in front of employees. Of those employers, 81% offer self-service financial planning tools, 68% provide one-on-one planning appointments, and 64% offer enrollment and investment selection advice. Nearly half (48%) offer managed accounts advice. 

The link between financial stress and the workplace may be driving the shift into a broader financial benefits strategy. Gallagher’s 2026 Financial Health Assessment of 981 employees, along with its employer survey, found: 

• 45% of employers say financial well-being has grown in importance within their organizations; 

• 91% of employees recognize a link between financial stress and mental health, and 74% say they make healthcare decisions with finances in mind; 

• 51% of employees have no emergency savings or less than three months of expenses set aside, yet only 5% of employers offer a formal emergency savings program; and 

• 46% of employers have yet to implement optional SECURE 2.0 provisions or are unsure whether they have. 

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