TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett is trying to fix America’s broken retirement system |
TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett is trying to fix America’s broken retirement system
TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett knows firsthand the struggle many Americans are facing as they try to figure out how they’ll get by in retirement.
Her own father, after three decades of work, had never contributed to his 401(k) plan, even though it was available to him. He had a pension, but it was small, and when combined with social security payments, it still wasn’t going to be enough for the retirement he was hoping for.
“That was a hard conversation, and it’s one American families are having every day,” Duckett, No. 7 on the 2026 Fortune Most Powerful Women in Business list and one of only two Black women serving as CEO of Fortune 500 companies, wrote in a 2025 New York Times op-ed.
Her father’s situation is a common one among U.S. workers. Starting in the 1980s, employers largely changed their retirement vehicle of choice from pensions to 401(k) plans, essentially shifting the responsibility for retirement savings onto individuals. Yet, even those that enroll in their company’s 401(k) plan and........