Every Week Can Be America Saves Week

When Winston Churchill observed, “Never let a good crisis go to waste,” he did not have retirement savings in mind. Still, his observation provides a valuable lesson to those thinking about how to overcome a tall task.

The coronavirus public health crisis of the past two years has been a stark reminder that savers need to build financial resilience.

That brings us to America Saves Week, which just took place in February. The idea behind America Saves Week, sponsored by Americasaves.org, is simple: Help people take progressive steps to become more financially resilient by increasing savings, reducing debt, and building wealth. The week was filled with educational initiatives aimed to encourage Americans to save.

As someone who has been involved in the retirement services industry for some time, I think the mission that drives America Saves Week could not be more spot on. Moreover, it aligns to something we at T. Rowe Price similarly believe.

Recently, in our inaugural Retirement Market Outlook, retirement experts at T. Rowe Price highlighted three trends that, coincidentally, align to the circumstances America Saves Week seeks to improve and that we feel will define the retirement market landscape for the coming 12 to 18 months and beyond. These savers, plan providers, plan sponsors, and the whole industry should be focused on these key topics—not just once a year, but all year.

The trends included:

• The widening retirement savings gap that industry, legislators, regulators, and employers intend to address is playing a significant role in shaping the retirement landscape.
• Financial wellness, which recognizes that competing savings needs and debt are significant barriers to successful retirement outcomes, is now seen as a critical solution to helping workers and retirees meet their goals.
• Capital markets appear poised to enter a new era of lower expected returns, following more than 10 years of a bull market run and whipsaw in the past two years. Retirement savers and retirees will need to plan and adjust accordingly.

While these trends present challenges to retirement savers, there are many ways in which T. Rowe Price and others in the industry seek to address these challenges, including:

• Promoting and creating greater access to workplace plans, promoting plan designs that create greater equity for all, and developing income solutions for retirees to close the retirement savings gap.
• Offering financial education, tools, and advice; helping retirement savers make the connection between the actions they take today and the retirement outcomes they will enjoy in the future; and helping retirement investors attain financial wellness.
• Aligning retirement saving, spending, and planning strategies to account for a lowered expectation of future capital market returns.

These are just some of the ways that the retirement services ecosystem of employers, recordkeepers, and financial professionals, to name but a few, are improving the retirement savings and the financial resiliency of millions of Americans. We hope America Saves Week calls attention to these challenges. Still, more can be done.

America Saves Week is an annual call to action to help people get a clear view of their finances, set savings goals, and create a plan to achieve them. During America Saves Week 2022, each day focused on a new topic, which included information on how one can:

• Save automatically
• Build emergency savings
• Save for retirement
• Reduce debt and manage credit
• Save as a family.

If you are looking for ways to improve retirement savings and financial resiliency for Americans systematically or individually, T. Rowe Price’s Retirement Market Outlook or the America Saves Week resources are great places to start.

Retirement savings and financial resiliency crises are unlikely to be solved in a week. However, if a single week in February serves as a catalyst to focus our attention on a crisis, so be it, but let’s resolve to make every week America Saves Week.

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Important Information

This material is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investment advice or a recommendation to take any particular investment action.

The views contained herein are as of the date written and are subject to change without notice; these views may differ from those of other T.?Rowe Price associates.

This information is not intended to reflect a current or past recommendation concerning investments, investment strategies, or account types, advice of any kind, or a solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities or investment services. The opinions and commentary provided do not take into account the investment objectives or financial situation of any particular investor or class of investor. Please consider your own circumstances before making an investment decision.

Information contained herein is based upon sources we consider to be reliable; we do not, however, guarantee its accuracy.

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. All investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal. All charts and tables are shown for illustrative purposes only.

T.?Rowe Price Investment Services, Inc., distributor

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