The Retirement Readiness Gap: Can Plan Design Fix It?

Financial Coach, Julie Everett hosts Ryan Campagna of Sentinel Group to unpack why only 13% of workers feel on track for retirement and nearly half fear outliving their savings. Ryan frames the issue as a readiness crisis driven by plan access, plan design, misconceptions, and lack of confidence, sharing examples of workers misreading Social Security “normal retirement age” and seeking a single “catch-up” investment.

They discuss best-in-class plan features—auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, QDIA/target date options, disciplined diversification, and re-enrollment to re-default nonparticipants—plus the importance of ongoing education and one-on-one support.

They also highlight overlooked topics like Social Security, Medicare, HSAs, and Roth contributions, warn against rigid or misleading social-media advice, and emphasize that saving more and taking action now beats waiting for a perfect plan.

00:00 Retirement Reality Check
00:54 Meet Ryan Campagna
02:19 Readiness Crisis Explained
06:08 Auto Features That Work
09:19 Catch Up in Midlife
12:38 Investing Myths and Basics
16:52 Best in Class Plan Design
27:42 Education That Reaches Everyone
35:11 Fixing the System at Work
42:38 Take Action This Week
44:42 Wrap Up and Next Steps