What will it take?

What will it take to bring gender parity to retirement in America, especially for brown and Black Americans?

It’s a question that many people have reflected on during Women’s History Month. And it’s always top of mind for me as the CEO of TIAA, a Fortune 100 company that exists to do one thing -- create secure retirements for millions of working Americans.

The short answer is that there is a lot of work to be done. America is staring down a retirement crisis, with 40 percent of households expecting to run short of income in retirement.

Since we’re wrapping up March Madness, picture this: You have two teams on the floor – 10 players. Six of them head to the bench. You’re left with almost an entire team, and that’s what 40 percent looks like.

The statistics are even worse for women and diverse populations: Half of Black Americans, due to systemic inequities, don’t have enough savings to retire. We are not transferring wealth; we are transferring debt.

We know that Black women make, on average, 63 cents on the dollar. For Latinas it’s even worse – 55 cents. That means they are working almost twice as long as their male counterparts to make the same amount of money.

This is the moment for a movement to change those stats.

We come to work every day at TIAA with the fire in our bellies to do just that. We are shining a light on the need for change through our #RetireInequality initiative, and we have focused on four ways to act:

• Expanding access to retirement plans for ALL working Americans, including our advocacy for the SECURE 2.0 provisions Congress approved last year, in addition to other bipartisan efforts.
• Encouraging everyone to take advantage of that access.
• Improving financial education and understanding,
• And increasing diversity in the workforce by making pay equity and talent mobility a real priority.

We started last year by focusing on women, who face a 30 percent gap in retirement savings compared to men. I’m so grateful for the amazing women athletes, designers and allies who joined us to raise awareness of the job to be done.

Abby Wambach, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in soccer who retired at age 35, made the message real at a client event in February. She described being backstage with Peyton Manning and Kobe Bryant before they all received the same award. It was then that she realized they would be heading into lavish retirements while she would need to quickly re-create herself so she could make her mortgage payments.

Now, we’re adding to our focus another massive inequity – that over one-half of Black Americans won’t have the savings they need to retire. Centuries of systemic discrimination, lack of access to workplace plans, and pay discrimination are among the contributing factors.

To overcome these obstacles, we need to have the important conversations about money without the judgment or shame that often keeps people from taking action to address their financial needs – or even from getting advice.

Likewise, we need more policymakers, leaders in Corporate America and people in all walks of life to join us on this journey. We have made progress in recent years on the policy front with the passage of the SECURE Act in 2019 and the more recent SECURE 2.0 bill, both of which had widespread bipartisan support and will help expand countless workers’ access to retirement plans, including ways to save for guaranteed income.

Still, Americans currently face a $4 trillion retirement savings gap, and everyone’s ability to prepare for their financial future has been challenged by inflation, rising rates and market volatility. So we must tackle this crisis head on, looking specifically at ways the private and public sectors can work together to ensure secure retirements for all Americans.

For TIAA, part of our mission is to lead the fight for retirement security, and I invite you to join us. We are doing all we can to raise awareness, particularly for those who don’t have any access to the retirement system currently. We’re sharing our concerns and ideas everywhere we can, from the halls of Congress and state legislatures to our clients and through the media.

If we operate with intentionality and urgency, we can make significant progress and improve the lives of millions of people.

Together, we can drive change in our offices and in our country to close the opportunity gap, the pay equity gap, and the retirement income gap -- for good.

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