Three days in Park City. One room of industry leaders. A blueprint for the future of savings. Earlier this month, decision makers across finance, policy, and technology gathered in Deer Valley for VEST 2025, a forum to explore what’s next in workplace savings and wealth benefits. Hosted by Vestwell, the event brought together executives, policymakers, and innovators to examine the forces reshaping the savings industry and to explore how collaboration can expand access and improve financial outcomes at scale.
The agenda featured voices from across the ecosystem: a keynote with Roger W. Ferguson Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) (2008-2021); Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors, U.S. Federal Reserve System (1999-2006); policy perspectives from Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association; research insights from Fidelity; and panels with leaders from Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, John Hancock, TIAA, and more. Topics ranged from public policy and private innovation to advisor practice management, product design, government savings programs, stable value, managed accounts, and AI-driven personalization.
What emerged was a clear picture of where the future of savings is headed and how the industry can work together to get there. Four themes dominated the conversation:
- Closing the savings gap through private innovation and public policy
- Expanding beyond traditional retirement benefits
- Driving the future with technology, partnerships, and personalization
- Unlocking the future of disability savings through the ABLE advantage
Below, we’ve recapped the signals and shifts that matter most, and where opportunity is opening up for advisors, employers, and savers.
Closing the Savings Gap Through Private Innovation and Public Policy
A central theme at VEST 2025 was the urgent need to address persistent disparities in access to savings. The current landscape reveals stark gaps in savings for millions of Americans: 47% of U.S. private sector workers lack access to a workplace retirement plan, which leaves over 125 million adults without a clear path to retirement security.
Discussed during the opening keynote with Roger W. Ferguson Jr. and Vestwell CEO Aaron Schumm, and later in the panels “Bridging the Savings Gap – Policy, Access & Innovation” and “Washington, Wall Street, and the Workplace: What’s Next for Retirement?” these disparities framed a critical question: How can the industry work together to advance every individual’s ability to save for life’s most important moments?
Panelists pointed to policy as an immense opportunity for expanding savings access. Provisions in SECURE 2.0, such as expanded startup tax credits and auto-enrollment requirements, were cited as important catalysts, while government-facilitated retirement savings programs continue to broaden coverage.
At the same time, speakers underscored that policy alone isn’t enough. Innovation in the private sector, from modernized platforms to features that encourage savings behaviors such as automatic enrollment and escalation, seamless payroll integrations, and multilingual capabilities, was highlighted as essential to converting eligibility into real participation. Just as important is the language of savings itself: simplifying jargon and adopting more approachable terminology to help savers and employers understand and feel connected to the solutions available to them.
This theme painted a clear message that carried throughout VEST: the future of financial security depends not only on expanding coverage but also on building trust and engagement among those who have historically been left out of the system.
Expanding Beyond Traditional Retirement Benefits
Another key theme that resonated throughout VEST 2025 was the need to look beyond the traditional 401(k) or 403(b) when designing workplace benefits that meet today’s workforce expectations. The savings gap extends well past retirement; many households struggle to set aside money for education, emergencies, healthcare, and other critical needs.
- Education Savings: Only 35% of U.S. families use a college savings fund, such as a tax-deductible 529 plan.
- Emergency Savings: 24% of U.S. adults have no emergency savings at all. When faced with a $400 unexpected expense, only 63% of adults could cover it using cash, savings, or a credit card paid off in full; the remaining would need to borrow, sell something, or otherwise go without.
- Healthcare Savings: Nearly half of U.S. adults report difficulty affording healthcare costs.
- Student Debt: The average federal student loan balance is nearly $40,000 per borrower, posing an additional challenge for households’ ability to save.
History shows that workplace savings can spark lasting change. Just as the Revenue Act of 1978 paved the way for the 401(k), similar models can expand access to other savings vehicles. Individuals are about 15 times more likely to save for retirement when they have a workplace plan, and 20 times more likely when contributions are automatic. Extending this approach to 529s, ABLE accounts, ESAs, and HSAs would give millions a better chance to build savings for life’s other milestones.
This vision was explored in the session “Beyond the 401(k): The Future of Retirement,” where panelists from OneDigital, BlackRock, Commonwealth, and Morgan Stanley highlighted how holistic lineups, from student loan repayment matching to emergency and disability savings, are beginning to complement core retirement benefits.
Speakers emphasized the importance of plan design in making these benefits effective. Tools such as auto-enrollment, auto-escalation, match structures, and leakage controls were spotlighted as key levers to drive participation and protect long-term outcomes.
Finally, panelists tied these innovations to tangible results: for employers, holistic savings solutions can strengthen retention, recruitment, and productivity; for advisors, they unlock opportunities to engage participants more deeply and grow assets under management.
Driving the Future With Technology, Partnerships, and Personalization
At VEST, innovation was not just a side conversation; it was front and center. Sessions including “Enterprise Partnership Panel: Collaborating with Financial Institutions,” “Industry Focus: Managed Accounts,” and “Intelligence at Work – AI Trends Shaping the Future of Savings” made it clear that the next wave of growth will be driven by technology, data, and collaboration across the ecosystem. Speakers highlighted how connectivity between recordkeepers, payroll providers, and advisors is becoming a critical advantage, streamlining plan setup, making compliance more efficient, and improving saver experiences.
Personalization was also emphasized, with managed accounts and data-driven plan design positioned as important tools to boost engagement, increase contributions, and deliver outcomes that better reflect individual needs. AI applications are beginning to support this work in meaningful ways, powering service automation, guiding plan design, and making savings more accessible through tools like multilingual support, while safeguards remain a priority to ensure transparency and trust.
Finally, panelists underscored that partnerships across the ecosystem will be key to expanding access and closing the savings gap. For advisors and employers, the near-term future points to more integrated solutions, faster onboarding, and a shared focus on turning complex benefits into simple, everyday savings experiences.
Unlocking the Future of Disability Savings Through the ABLE Advantage
ABLE disability savings accounts were a focal point at VEST 2025, with leaders from CalABLE, J.P. Morgan, and Vestwell underscoring how these programs are reshaping financial security for people with disabilities. Today, 70 million Americans live with a disability, yet only about 200,000 ABLE accounts exist, highlighting a significant awareness gap.
While adoption has been limited so far, the potential ahead is enormous. The ABLE market is about to grow dramatically: legislative changes set to take effect on January 1, 2026, will nearly double ABLE eligibility, opening the door to millions of new savers.
Integrating ABLE into financial planning not only helps families coordinate across special needs trusts, 529 rollovers, and budgeting for qualified expenses, but also creates a pathway for advisors to scale their practice and grow assets under management in an underserved, rapidly expanding market.
With measurable impact beginning to show in balances, contributions, and withdrawals, the message is clear: ABLE is no longer niche. For advisors, it represents a significant business opportunity to deepen relationships, differentiate their offering, and be at the forefront of closing the savings gap.
How Do You Vestwell?
VEST 2025 made one thing clear: the future of savings is no longer about a single plan or product. It’s about designing ecosystems that are more accessible, more connected, and more reflective of the realities people face every day. The signals and shifts from VEST all pointed toward the same truth: financial security must be built differently for the next generation.
To Vestwell means to make that vision real: to remove friction, to expand opportunity, and to deliver savings solutions that meet people where they are and carry them where they want to go. Advisors, employers, policymakers, and innovators each have a role to play, but together the momentum is undeniable.
The question that VEST 2025 leaves us with: How do you Vestwell?
Vestwell. For the future.