New Retirement in America Podcast Explores How BlackRock Is Bringing Pension-Like Benefits to 401(k) Plans

BlackRock's Nick Nefouse Discusses Guaranteed Income, the Evolution of 401(k)s, and the Future of Retirement Security

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS) today released Episode 7 of its Retirement in America podcast, "Making the 401(k) Look More Like a Pension: The Future of Lifetime Retirement Income."

The episode features Nick Nefouse, Global Head of Retirement Solutions and Head of LifePath at BlackRock, joining podcast host and NIRS Executive Director Dan Doonan to discuss how retirement plans are evolving to help Americans turn their savings into reliable income throughout retirement.

Retirement in America is available on the NIRS website, YouTube and all major podcast platforms.

For decades, traditional pensions provided workers with predictable monthly income for life. But as private-sector employers have shifted toward 401(k) plans, workers increasingly bear responsibility not only for saving and investing, but also for determining how to make their savings last throughout retirement. The podcast conversation explores how innovations in retirement plan design could bring some of the most valuable features of traditional pensions into today's 401(k) system.

"Saving enough for retirement is only part of the challenge. Americans also need help turning those savings into income they can count on for the rest of their lives," Doonan said. "Nick offers an interesting perspective on how the retirement industry is rethinking 401(k) plans to address that challenge. As more Americans retire without traditional pensions, addressing this gap will reduce financial-related stress in retirement by adding back some of the certainty that so many workers have lost in recent decades."

A central focus of the discussion is BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck®, a retirement investment solution that integrates access to a guaranteed lifetime income stream provided by third-party insurers into a target-date strategy. As participants approach retirement, the strategy gradually builds an allocation to group annuity contracts, which participants may elect to convert into a lifetime income stream while keeping the remainder of their savings invested and accessible. Nefouse explains how this approach seeks to provide greater income certainty in retirement while reducing the need for workers to make complex investment and income-planning decisions on their own.

Among the topics discussed in the episode:

• Making 401(k)s work more like pensions. How retirement plans are evolving beyond accumulating savings to help workers generate dependable income throughout retirement, incorporating professional investment management and features traditionally associated with pensions.
• The challenge of spending retirement savings. Why retirees often hesitate to draw down their savings, even when they have accumulated substantial assets, and how predictable income can help them make more confident spending decisions.
• The role of employers and retirement plan design. How workplace plans can offer institutional investment management, fiduciary oversight and potentially lower costs, along with the challenges employers face in adopting new retirement income solutions.
• The future of retirement investing. The potential role of private-market investments, participant education and public policy in helping retirement plans deliver better long-term outcomes.
• BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck strategy. How the strategy integrates access to guaranteed lifetime income into a target-date strategy, with the ability to convert a portion of the portfolio into a lifetime income stream, providing a paycheck for life in retirement, while keeping remaining assets invested and accessible.

Retirement in America is a NIRS podcast exploring the economic, workforce and policy issues shaping Americans' retirement security.

The National Institute on Retirement Security is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization established to contribute to informed policymaking by fostering a deep understanding of the value of retirement security to employees, employers, and the economy as a whole. Located in Washington, D.C., NIRS membership includes financial services firms, employee benefit plans, trade associations, and other retirement service providers.

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SOURCE National Institute on Retirement Security