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Sometimes it takes baby steps to get started on a retirement savings plan, and now Prudential is literally doing just that for newborns. Last week, Prudential joined the world in welcoming the new Generation Beta (babies born Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2039) by commissioning a first-of-its-kind report, Generation Beta: Redefining Life, Longevity, and Retirement, and kickstarting their retirement savings by offering the Beta Baby Bonus.
To celebrate this new generation and encourage a headstart on living a better life, longer, Prudential is offering the Beta Baby Bonus. Parents or guardians of a “Beta baby” born in the United States on Jan. 1, 2025, can apply to receive $150 to put toward saving for their future. This amount, which also commemorates the company’s 150th anniversary in 2025, has the potential to grow to approximately $100,000 by age 70 if invested toward retirement savings.
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New research reveals how Americans envision the future, and how technological, social and economic shifts will impact their financial security. The Generation Beta report shows that Americans are already worrying about this new generation’s financial journey, in addition to their own retirement security: 80% of prospective Generation Beta parents agree that, in an ideal world, parents would start saving for their child’s retirement from birth. In fact, the No. 1 regret among current and prospective parents is that they “didn’t save more for retirement.”
“As a first-time parent, I understand how daunting financial planning can be for a family,” said Brandon Goldstein, ChFC, financial planner with Prudential Financial. “While you can’t predict the future, you can plan for it from day one. My son’s future starts with me and how we plan for it as a family. Most new parents think about updating their healthcare plans or insurance policies, but that’s only the beginning. Reassessing your budget to ensure you’re accounting for long-term savings goals and factoring in expected rising costs for the entire family is a critical step.”
With a generation that may not retire until the 2100s, what might Generation Beta’s world look like? Prudential’s new report, Generation Beta: Redefining Life, Longevity, and Retirement, This large-scale quantitative study surveyed 2,008 Americans aged 18+ between Nov. 1 and 7, 2024.explores that and its impact on their financial future.
Today’s retirement norm may become a relic of the past, with more than half (58%) of parents and prospective parents thinking their children will never retire, according to the report. The survey participants estimate that Gen Beta will need approximately $1.88 million to sustain retirement.
For Gen Beta, retirement will be less about stepping away from work and more about embracing flexible, purpose-driven life phases, according to the report:
Mini-retirements: 66% predict that in the future, retirement will be fluid as people will constantly go in and out of it. This is driven by longer life spans and evolving work patterns.\
Financial challenges: 48% of parents and future parents think their children will never retire. The people surveyed also estimate that Generation Beta will need approximately $1.88 million to sustain retirement but will struggle to be able to attain this.
Starting earlier: 80% of prospective Gen Beta parents agree that, in an ideal world, parents would start saving for their child’s retirement from birth. In fact, the number one regret among current and prospective parents is that they “didn’t save more for my retirement.”
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Retirement preparedness is a concern for Gen Beta. Among the top challenges predicted for Gen Beta in saving for retirement are the rising cost of living (38%), an unstable economy (29%), high healthcare costs (28%), savings losing value due to inflation (26%), and the impacts of automation and AI displacing millions of jobs (24%), according to the report.© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor, Retirement at BenefitsPRO. Prior, she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter. She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space, Vanguard and Willis Towers Watson, as well as top media companies, including Condé Nast and American Media.
