Allspring Study Finds Retirees Split on Guidance vs. Control

Allspring Global Investments, a Charlotte-based asset management firm overseeing $642 billion in assets under advisement, has published its 2026 retirement study examining one of the central tensions in retirement planning: the trade-off between seeking professional guidance and retaining personal decision-making control.

The study, titled "The Retirement Decisions Defaults Can't Address," suggests that standard retirement plan defaults — the automatic enrollment features and preset investment options common in workplace plans — are insufficient to resolve the deeply personal choices retirees must navigate as they transition out of the workforce. Those decisions extend beyond what automated systems are designed to handle.

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The findings underscore a growing challenge for the retirement industry: plan participants increasingly want tailored direction, yet are reluctant to fully cede authority over their financial futures. This push-pull dynamic complicates the ability of plan sponsors and advisers to design solutions that satisfy both impulses simultaneously.

With an aging workforce and trillions of dollars moving from accumulation into distribution phase in coming years, the gap between what default plan structures offer and what retirees actually need has become a focal point for policymakers, plan administrators, and asset managers alike. Allspring's research adds institutional weight to calls for more flexible, personalized retirement income frameworks.

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