AuguryRetire, sort of: T. Rowe Price’s global survey finds one-third expect to keep working — and why it matters for savers and markets
This article was written by the Augury Times
A global wake-up call on retirement plans
T. Rowe Price (TROW) this week released its first global retirement survey, and the headline is simple: roughly one-third of savers worldwide expect to keep working in retirement. The firm published the study on December 8, 2025, positioning it as a broad look at attitudes toward retirement across multiple regions and age groups.
That single finding — a large share of people planning to work in retirement — matters because it signals a gap between income expectations and the reality of retirement costs. T. Rowe Price presented the survey as a way to map how savers are thinking about timing, income sources and priorities. For investors who watch flows into retirement products, and for retirement savers deciding how long to stay in the job market, the results are a clear prompt to reassess assumptions that past generations relied on.
How the survey was run and the top takeaways by region and age
The company describes the work as a global poll of individual savers in multiple markets. The release frames the sample as demographic and geographic — covering younger and older adults and respondents from North America, Europe, Asia and other regions — but it does not read like a one-country snapshot. T. Rowe Price calls it an inaugural effort, which implies the firm plans to repeat the work and track trends over time.
Beyond the headline that about a third expect to work in retirement, the report highlights several broad patterns. First, younger savers are more likely than older ones to say they will keep working past traditional retirement age — a sign that retirement plans are shifting for new cohorts. Second, many respondents flagged concerns about having enough income to cover health costs and day-to-day spending, which helps explain the intention to continue earning after leaving full-time work.
Regionally, the survey points to differences tied to local safety nets. In markets with stronger public pensions, fewer people say they expect to work in retirement; in places where state support is thinner, plans to keep earning are more common. The study also stresses the mix savers expect to rely on: workplace pensions and personal savings remain core, but part-time work and other income sources feature increasingly in retirement plans.
What this means for T. Rowe Price and retirement-product demand
For T. Rowe Price (TROW), the results are strategically useful. An uptick in planned working years and anxiety about income opens room for products that help turn savings into steady income — things like target-date funds with income options, managed accounts that focus on retirement paychecks, and partnerships with insurers on guaranteed products.
If many savers expect to work longer, demand could shift away from purely accumulation-focused funds toward solutions that mix ongoing income with partial withdrawal strategies. That can be positive for asset managers that already have or can build retirement-oriented advice services and guaranteed-income offerings. But it also complicates the business: guaranteed products typically bring lower margins and require close risk management, especially as interest rates and longevity trends move.
For investors watching asset managers, the survey’s takeaway is mixed. Firms with a clear retirement-product roadmap and distribution into employer plans look better positioned. Managers that depend mostly on one-off accumulation flows or on volatile retail trading may face pressure if savers divert assets into income tools or hold onto cash longer while they delay full retirement.
Wider market and policy angles to watch
The survey feeds a set of market and policy conversations already under way. If more people plan to work longer, this could slow the pace of asset decumulation in aggregate and change demand across equities, bonds and cash. At the same time, higher interest in guaranteed income could lift the annuity market and push insurers to innovate around pricing and product features.
Regulators and plan sponsors will read the findings through the lens of adequacy. Public officials concerned about retirement shortfalls may accelerate efforts on auto-enrolment, default contribution levels, and clearer retirement-income communications. Employers that run defined-contribution plans may get fresh pressure to offer built-in income options or to redesign default glidepaths so they look more like a lifetime income solution than a simple accumulation vehicle.
Practical takeaways for savers and follow-ups for reporters
The report is a reminder that many people are adjusting expectations about retirement timing and income. For savers, the broad implication is that retirement is becoming more fluid: income may come from a patchwork of savings, workplace plans and continued work. For investors in asset managers, the message is that firms with retirement-focused products and clear distribution advantages stand to gain, while those without such plans face strategic questions.
Journalists who want to dig deeper should request the survey’s raw tables and methodology details: sample size by country, age groups, income bands, question wording, and weighting. Ask T. Rowe Price for regional breakdowns on the work-in-retirement question, cross-tabs by income and pension access, and any longitudinal plans. Useful spokespeople to seek include a retirement strategy lead at T. Rowe Price, an independent pension-policy academic, an insurer that designs annuities, and a large-plan sponsor or benefits consultant to comment on plan-level implications.
Seen together, the survey is less a surprise than a clear signal: retirement is changing, and that shift will affect products, markets and policy — not all of it easy to manage, and some of it fertile ground for firms that can offer reliable retirement income solutions.
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