More 401(k) pre-retirees want to withdraw at will than want a personalized plan, 46% to 40%
Some 40% of 401(k) pre-retirees want a personalized retirement plan and 39% want guaranteed monthly payments, a report found. The top ask is withdrawal at any time, at 46%, so the advisor opening is narrower than those two figures suggest.
The Investor · Invest desk
Ranked bars: 46% of participants want to withdraw money at any time, 40% want a personalized, detailed plan, 39% want guaranteed monthly payments and 31% want to change their investments.
Share of plan participants wanting each option, one report In % of participants
| Rank | Item | Value | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Withdraw money at any time | 46% of participants | 3 |
| 2 | Personalized, detailed plan | 40% of participants | 1 |
| 3 | Guaranteed monthly payments | 39% of participants | 2 |
| 4 | Change their investments | 31% of participants | 4 |
What happened
- A further 31% of participants want to be able to change the investments they hold, according to the same report, which was released this month.
- The report suggests plan sponsors may do better offering a range of solutions to participants than depending on individual products.
- A separate recent Cerulli report found 3.5% of wealth advisors' new clients come from the defined contribution plans those advisors work with.
- Advisors told Cerulli they want more help from their home offices in converting defined contribution plan participants into advisory clients.
Why it matters
- contradiction The top ask and the guarantee are the pair Principal's Sri Reddy says can contradict each other or become very expensive together, so a participant who wants both has not yet priced either.
- constraint DC specialists draw about 10.6 times the plan-sourced share of new clients that wealth advisors overall do. In our view the supply of advisors who can convert participants, more than participant demand, looks like the binding limit.
- decision Recordkeepers and plan sponsors choose where to spend. A sponsor that only adds another product answers the 39% and leaves the 40% to someone else, while Bailey says they have an opportunity to help participants develop plans to use these products effectively.
- cost A detailed plan costs whoever delivers it. Reddy says the advisor must track holdings across multiple 401(k) accounts and IRAs, pre-tax versus post-tax money, withdrawal strategies and required minimum distributions.
Withdrawal at any time leads the list by 6 points over the personalized plan and by 7 over guaranteed payments [16]. The four shares reported sum to 156% [18], so respondents could pick more than one answer. Depending on how much the plan group and the guarantee group overlap, together they cover anywhere from 40% to 79% of participants [19]. The account of the report does not say how many people were surveyed or what the overlap is.
The 39% asking for guaranteed payments is itself asking for a product, and Cerulli's Chris Bailey ties it to the plan in one sentence. "As much as they want guaranteed income in retirement, pre-retirees also want a personalized, detailed plan they can follow in retirement," he said in a statement [6]. Bailey treats the two asks as one request: a guarantee delivered inside a plan.
The appetite for help is stated bluntly. "Most pre-retirees are uncomfortable making key retirement income decisions without an advisor's help," Bailey said [5]. Sri Reddy of Principal Financial Group describes a modest version of the service. He said advisors should give clients enough information to feel somewhat in control of the decision, and added: "But at the end of the day, they're trusting you and your judgment." [13]
We think the opening is real and is gated by delivery, or rather by who is paid to deliver it. A participant who tells a surveyor she wants a plan has not agreed to pay for one, and 46% of the same participants also want to be able to leave at will [3]. There are three ways this goes differently. Sponsors could add products and no planning support, and the 40% would go unserved [1]. Participants who get a plan could keep asking for withdrawal at any time, and advisors would then manage a standing contradiction. Or Bailey's hope could hold: "Perhaps increased access to planning and advice will reduce the need for flexibility that intermediaries and participants seek," he said [8].
The thesis is wrong if the share of wealth advisors' new clients that comes from the plans they serve stays where it is [9] after home offices build conversion help, because then the limit is demand.
What to watch
- Whether Cerulli's next defined contribution distribution report shows the withdraw-at-any-time share falling below 46% where participants have access to planning and advice.
- Whether recordkeepers and plan sponsors fund planning support or only widen the product menu in response to the 40% and 39% asks.
- Whether wealth advisors' home offices ship conversion help for plan participants, the support advisors told Cerulli they want.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives55
- Confidence55
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
40% of plan participants want "a personalized, detailed, and actionable plan to follow in retirement."
- [2]
39% of participants would like guaranteed monthly payments that would last after their savings are used up.
- [3]
46% of plan participants want to be able to withdraw money at any time.
- [4]
According to the report, released this month, 31% of participants want to be able to change the investments they are in.
- [5]
Chris Bailey, a director in Cerulli's Retirement practice, said in a statement: "Most pre-retirees are uncomfortable making key retirement income decisions without an advisor's help."
- [6]
Bailey said in the statement: "As much as they want guaranteed income in retirement, pre-retirees also want a personalized, detailed plan they can follow in retirement."
- [7]
According to the report, it might be helpful for plan sponsors to offer a range of solutions to participants instead of depending on individual products.
- [8]
Bailey said: "Perhaps increased access to planning and advice will reduce the need for flexibility that intermediaries and participants seek."
- [9]
Another recent Cerulli report found 3.5% of wealth advisors' new clients come from defined contribution plans the advisors work with.
- [10]
Defined contribution specialists get a higher percentage of new clients from DC plans than wealth advisors generally: 37%.
- [11]
Advisors told Cerulli they would like additional help from their home offices in converting defined contribution plan participants to advisory clients.
- [12]
Sri Reddy of Principal Financial Group said some choices contradict each other or would become very expensive to make happen, such as guaranteed income outlasting balances and flexibility to withdraw any time, and advisors can help clients understand the trade-offs.
- [13]
Reddy said clients should get enough information and knowledge to feel somewhat in control of co-piloting the decision with the advisor, and said: "But at the end of the day, they're trusting you and your judgment."
- [14]
Reddy said clients may have multiple 401(k) accounts and IRAs, and advisors should keep track of what clients are invested in, whether the money is pre-tax or post-tax, their withdrawal strategies and how they will manage required minimum distributions.
- [15]
Bailey said: "Recordkeepers and plan advisors have an opportunity to help participants develop retirement plans to utilize these products effectively."
- [16]
Withdrawal at any time (46%) leads the personalized plan (40%) by 6 points and guaranteed payments (39%) by 7 points.
- [17]
The 37% share for DC specialists is about 10.6 times the 3.5% share for wealth advisors generally.
- [18]
The four participant shares reported (46%, 40%, 39%, 31%) sum to 156%, so respondents could choose more than one answer.
- [19]
If overlap is unknown, participants wanting a plan or guaranteed payments could be anywhere from 40% to 79% of the total.
Sources
1 independent publisher whose own reporting we read for this story.
- americanbanker.comPre-retirees want income planning advice, beyond investment products
1 article · October 13, 2026
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