The match is the retention lever owners underprice

Prudential's 2026 Benefits & Beyond study gives advisors a concrete number to carry into plan reviews with business-owner clients: in its third installment, an increased retirement savings match or contribution ranked first among the benefits employees said would make them likelier to stay with their employer over the next two years. The research draws on surveys of both employers and employees, built to help companies assemble a future-ready workforce.

That preference does not split evenly across the workforce: Gen X (60%) and Boomer (57%) employees value a higher match more than Millennials (51%) or Gen Z (40%), and Prudential's household profiles run the same arc. Empty Nest (62%), Launch Age (61%), and Partnered households without children (60%) lead, while Solo respondents (51%) sit near the Gen Z low end. The splits track life stage as much as age, and employees raising young children and teenagers are among the most engaged with their benefits overall. "Life is full of milestones, transitions, and unexpected moments, and benefits should be designed with that reality in mind," said Michael Estep, president of Prudential Group Insurance.

The perception gap is the sharper number in the survey: 89% of employers say their benefits package shows they care about employees, while 66% of employees agree. That gap narrows when employees believe benefits meet their current challenges, and 67% say health insurance, retirement savings, mental-health coverage, and flexible work schedules and locations are among the benefits that do. Health coverage remains the package's breaking point: 79% of employees and 80% of employers agree removing it would make people likelier to leave.

For the business owner, the match is the rare lever with pull across every generation — Gen Z's 40% is the low end, not a rejection — and it is the one retention benefit an owner can price against the market. That argues for running plan benchmarking as a retention exercise: compare the client's match against comparable employers, model the cost of moving it up, and present the increase as a talent expense with a measurable return.

The 89% figure flatters the owner's view of the package; the 66% figure is what employees report, and the mismatch is the opening. Owners who price the match as a line-item expense are mispricing their best retention asset, and the survey gives advisors the comparison to lay on the table. The strongest wedge in the retirement-plan value proposition right now is the match data, and the plan review that starts there is the one where the owner is listening.