You need $2 million to retire and ‘almost nobody’s close’, BlackRock’s CEO warns, a problem Gen X will make ‘harder and nastier’.

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

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

“That’s a lot. More than I expected,” Fink wrote. And “almost none are close,” 62% of those surveyed had less than $150,000 saved for retirement. This figure is only 7% of what they think they should retire comfortably.

Fink, 73, has long warned of America’s retirement crisis, with one of his other main arguments being that the safety net will fail as life expectancies rise. Also, retirement and senior care needs are expensive.

“When you’re retired, you’re basically living on a fixed income,” Rita Chawla, senior director of caregiving at the AARP Public Policy Institute, previously said. fate. “If you don’t factor in an extra $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 a year for your fixed income, it can have a big impact.”

Meanwhile, millions of baby boomers are approaching retirement age in waves, still don’t have enough savings and many don’t have a clear plan to fill the gap.

“As the oldest Gen-Xers begin to retire, the problem will become more difficult and critical,” Fink argued. “They are the first generation to rely primarily on 401(k)s. And the 401(k) trend continues to grow with Millennials and Gen Z.”

Even those with nest eggs and 401(k)s have a separate problem at hand, he argues. Because 401(k)s don’t “come with instructions,” it’s hard to know how to save versus spend in 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 that they fail as a collective retirement solution because they put the responsibility of financial planning on the individual rather than the employer or institution. He has historically argued for more mandatory savings for retirement and that employers should play more of a role.

“The result? Even well-saved retirees often spend too little, haunted by fear of running out. They curtail dreams and delay gratification,” Fink wrote. “Economist Bill Sharp called this problem ‘the worst, most difficult problem in finance.’ Difficult, but solvable.”

Some data backs up Fink’s point about retirement becoming a crisis. According to Federal Reserve statistics, nearly half of American households reaching retirement age (in their 50s and 60s) have no money saved in a 401(k) or IRA.