Understanding retirement savers’ views, concerns and points of stress related to their financial lives allows the industry to build investment solutions and craft communications strategies that are more likely to resonate and be more impactful, according to Jessica Sclafani, global retirement strategist at T. Rowe Price, during a session at Benefits Canada‘s 2026 Defined Contribution Plan Summit.

Sharing the results of the investment manager’s global retirement saver survey, she noted inflation was the top concern across all five countries — Australia, Canada, Japan, the U.K. and the U.S. Looking at generational differences, she noted older Canadians were more likely than their younger cohorts to report high stress related to geopolitical events, while younger Canadians were more likely to be concerned about unemployment.

Read: How is rising inflation impacting retirement savings?

The survey also found 65 per cent of all Canadian respondents identified retirement savings as a source of high or moderate stress, followed by budgeting, non-retirement savings and other bills. Breaking it down by generations, the areas of greatest stress for both generation X and baby boomers was retirement savings, for millennials it was housing and for generation Z it was other bills.

“I would point out how important it is to think about messaging, communications, education and how we build solutions,” said Sclafani. “And how important it is that we think about retirement as one of many myriad financial concerns that people are trying to address.”

The survey also asked about investment preferences, with 68 per cent of all global respondents expressing a preference for investment choice. Canadians respondents had a high preference for investment choice with educational support, as well as default funds. Across all countries, preference for the default increased across ageing cohorts.

Read: 41% of Canadian employees believe their contributions will be enough for retirement: survey

“One way to interpret this data is that, as you age and you’re more focused on your retirement and your account balance is hopefully growing in value, you assign greater value to a professional choosing your investments for you. And that was born out in the data.”

Survey respondents were also asked to choose from a list of attributes of a retirement investment product, with professional management to optimize growth and to minimize risk tied at No. 1. Retirement savers were also interested in the mix of stocks and bonds being auto-adjusted to become less risky as they approach their expected retirement age.

“If we think about these as the attributes that members value in a retirement investment product, all signs point to a target-date solution that allocates to both actively managed and passively managed underlying building blocks,” said Sclafani. “So [plan sponsors] can still offer members the opportunity for excess return potential at a price point that aligns with their views on costs.”

Read more coverage from the 2026 DC Plan Summit.