You need $2 million to retire and ‘almost no one is close,’ BlackRock CEO warns, a problem that Gen X will make ‘harder and nastier’

Larry Fink has a blunt message for Americans: you haven’t saved enough to retire comfortably, the billionaire BlackRock CEO wrote in his 2025 annual shareholders letter. 

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm with $14 trillion in assets under management, surveyed 1,000 registered voters, asking how much they’d need to retire comfortably, and the average response was roughly $2.1 million. 

“That’s a lot. More than I was expecting,” Fink wrote. And “almost no one is close,” considering 62% of those surveyed had less than $150,000 saved for retirement. That figure is only about 7% of what they think they need to retire comfortably. 

Fink, 73, has long warned about America’s retirement crisis, with one of his other main arguments being the security system will fail because life expectancy is rising. Plus, retirement and needing senior care gets expensive. 

“When you’re retired, you’re basically living on a fixed income,” Rita Choula, senior director of caregiving with the AARP Public Policy Institute, previously told Fortune. “If you have not factored in an additional $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 a year for your fixed income, that can have a big impact.”

Meanwhile, millions of baby boomers are coming of retirement age in waves, yet don’t have enough saved and many lack a clear plan to fill the gap.

“The problem will only get harder and nastier as the oldest Gen-Xers start to retire,” Fink argued. “They’re the first generation primarily dependent on 401(k)s. And the 401(k) trend is growing with Millennials and Gen Z.”

Even those who have built up a nest egg and a 401(k) have a separate problem on their hands, he argues. Because 401(k)s don’t “come with instructions,” it’s hard to know how to save versus spend a lump sum for the rest of your life. It’s not that Fink is completely against the idea of 401(k)s, but he argues they’ve failed as a mass retirement solution because they place the onus of financial planning on the individual rather than an employer or institution. He’s historically argued for more mandatory savings toward retirement and employers should play more of a role.

“The result? Even retirees who’ve saved well often spend too little, gripped by fear that they’ll run out. They downsize dreams and delay joy,” Fink wrote. “The economist Bill Sharpe called this problem the ‘nastiest, hardest problem in finance.’ Hard, but solvable.”

A growing danger

Some data backs up Fink’s point about retirement becoming a crisis. Roughly half of U.S. households approaching retirement age (in their 50s and 60s) have no money saved in a 401(k) or IRA, according to Federal Reserve data. 

That leads them to have to rely on other programs like Social Security—and that’s worrisome for them because they’re concerned they won’t get the benefits they’ve long been promised, according to Bankrate. Plus, Social Security is just about $2,000 per month, and is nearing insolvency.

“Americans are right to be worried,” according to Bankrate, citing recent federal reports that show the Social Security and Medicare trust funds are nearing insolvency.

While Fink’s data suggests Americans have roughly $150,000 saved for retirement on average, that varies by source and age. According to Vanguard’s “How America Saves” 2025 report, the average and median 401(k) balances are as follows: 

Meanwhile, Social Security’s trust fund is expected to be depleted by the mid-2030s, which could result in a roughly 20%-25% cut to benefits if Congress doesn’t act. 

“The country will have to make important decisions about the future of Social Security: how it is funded, how generous it will be, and when it can be accessed,” according to the Roosevelt Institute.

Searching for solutions

BlackRock, under Fink’s leadership, has been aggressively expanding its retirement products, from target-date funds to annuity solutions designed for defined-contribution plans. 

The firm’s LifePath Paycheck product provides customers access to guaranteed income through a target date fund, an investment strategy that automatically adjusts to a certain targeted retirement year. Plan participants can access that guaranteed income as early as age 59.5 by purchasing annuity contracts. 

Fink said he believes these types of plans will gain popularity over the years. 

“We believe LifePath Paycheck will one day be the default retirement investment strategy, providing access to a predictable, paycheck-like income stream that can help improve the quality of life for millions of Americans in retirement,” he wrote in a 2024 statement.

To be sure, many Americans have been forced to “unretire,” having realized they don’t have enough to get by. So despite Fink’s warnings, many Americans haven’t quite planned for the future they might have dreamed of decades ago.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com