Two-thirds of workers would put 401(k) savings into guaranteed income, BofA finds

Guaranteed income products are emerging as one of the clearest openings for advisors working with retirement plan participants, according to new research.

Sixty-seven percent of employees who took part in the survey said they would allocate part of their 401(k) balance to an in-plan guaranteed income option, and demand for the benefit has grown ten percentage points in three years.

Bank of America's 2026 Workplace Benefits Report, produced with the Bank of America Institute, surveyed 941 full-time employees enrolled in 401(k) plans and 806 employers with sole or shared responsibility for those plans.

Among employees who said they would not put savings into a guaranteed income option, the leading reason was simply not understanding the product, cited by 39% overall and rising to 52% of women, compared with 35% of men. That gap points to a specific coaching opportunity for advisors working with plan sponsors on participant education.

Boomers, meanwhile, remain the generation most likely to lean on professional advice. Forty-nine percent said they turn to a financial advisor or other professional guidance when making investment decisions, well ahead of Gen X, who are more likely to learn through conversations with friends, colleagues and mentors, and Gen Z and Millennials, who most often turn to social media.

Investment confidence tracks a similar generational pattern. Fifty-eight percent of Gen Z and Millennial employees said they feel confident making investment decisions on their own, compared with 76% of Boomers, while foundational understanding of concepts like diversification and compound interest follows the same climb by age, from 69% among the youngest workers to 84% among Boomers.

Retirement income planning

The report also breaks down how employees expect to fund retirement with 87% ranking a 401(k) or 403(b) as a top income stream, followed by Social Security at 72%, checking or savings accounts at 56%, IRAs at 44% and taxable brokerage accounts at 29%, the last of which has been rising.

Men are more likely than women to plan on a taxable brokerage account in retirement, while women lean more heavily on checking or savings accounts.

Gen X stood out as the most narrowly focused generation, relying primarily on a 401(k) and Social Security without a more diversified plan, while Boomers were most likely to also draw on an IRA, a defined benefit plan and a taxable brokerage account.

Women were notably more vocal than men about wanting employer-provided help with retirement planning specifics: 38% want help learning to create a guaranteed income stream versus 30% of men, and 34% want retirement education sessions versus 24% of men.

Stock awards and HSAs carry planning gaps

Equity compensation is also becoming more common, and with it, a widening advice gap. Twenty-five percent of employees now receive stock awards, nearly double the share from two years ago, yet only six in ten of those recipients feel they have enough information to make informed decisions about them.

That gap is sharpest among younger employees: just 53% of Gen Z and Millennial recipients feel adequately informed, compared with 82% of Boomers, even though younger employees are now among the most likely to receive the awards at all.

Health savings accounts present a related opportunity. More than 80% of employees with HSA access are contributing, but the report found many are not using the accounts as intended: 57% said they are not actively investing their HSA balance, and a quarter of non-investors said they either did not know investing was an option or did not understand how it works.

Notably, employees reported knowing more about certain HSA features than their employers did, including that unused funds carry over each year (67% of employees versus 32% of employers) and that balances can be invested in mutual funds (39% versus 36%).

Debt and emergency savings

Almost a third of employees said having a financial advisor build a personalized debt-management plan would be valuable, a figure that rises to 36% among women and 44% among Gen Z.

That comes even as debt metrics improved broadly: credit card debt ownership fell to 45% from 56% in 2025, debt-related stress dropped to 40% from 46%, and the share of employees who said personal debt affects their work productivity fell to 26% from 35%.

Employees also made headway on emergency savings, with 59% now saying they have hit their savings goal, up from 49% in 2025, and more employees now say they need four to six months of funds set aside, up from 38% to 46% year over year.

For advisors working with plan sponsors, the report offers a picture of where employer benefit offerings and employee demand are misaligned.

Guaranteed income plan benefits are wanted by 44% of employees but offered by only 42% of employers, though 30% of employers plan to add them. Debt assistance is wanted by 31% of employees and offered by 43% of employers, while personalized coaching and upskilling is wanted by 36% but offered by 45%. Investment services show the widest gap in the other direction: only 30% of employees say they want them, yet 59% of employers already offer them.

Companies with fewer than 50 employees reported lower financial wellness scores among staff and weaker success attracting top talent, at 59% compared with 69% for the average company. Guaranteed income plan benefits ranked as the top item small-business employees want added, cited by 46% at companies with fewer than 50 staff and 48% at those with 50 to 99.