Key Takeaways BlackRock’s Larry Fink warns that Americans are vastly underprepared for retirement.
In BlackRock’s recent survey, 62% of people reported having less than $150,000 saved in their retirement accounts.
Survey respondents said they needed about $2.1 million to retire comfortably.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says Americans are dramatically underprepared for retirement — and the numbers paint a grim picture.
In his 2025 annual shareholder letter, Fink, 73, told Americans they “haven’t saved enough to retire comfortably.” BlackRock manages about $14 trillion in assets, more than half of which are for retirement. The firm conducted a recent survey of 1,000 registered voters in late January and found that, on average, people think they need around $2.1 million to retire.
However, 62% of those surveyed had less than $150,000 saved for retirement, or about 7% of what they believe they will need. According to Fidelity, the suggested retirement savings target at age 30 is about the amount of your annual salary. By age 40, that number jumps to three times your annual salary, and by age 50, it should be six times your annual salary. So, for example, if you earn $100,000, an on-track target at age 40 is $300,000 in retirement savings. At age 67, someone planning to retire and saving about 15% of their pay should have about ten times their annual salary in their retirement savings account, per Fidelity.
The gap between savings and need in retirement underpins Fink’s stark conclusion: “almost no one is close” to being financially ready to stop working.
Larry Fink. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)
Vanguard’s “How America Saves” 2025 report backs up BlackRock’s findings. The Vanguard report found that the average retirement account balance was $148,153 in 2024. Americans predict needing far more to retire comfortably. The 2025 Planning & Progress Study by Northwestern Mutual placed the “magic number” for retirement at $1.26 million.
Reasons that savings fall short
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