Background: In May 2022, Principal Financial Group surveyed nearly 700 retirement plan participants in the U.S. to explore their thoughts and concerns about investments and saving for retirement.Findings: One respondent seems to have summed it up for most people, “I have no idea about any of it, what to do, or who to consult.” We see that most workers report limited knowledge for—or interest in—making their own investment decisions, and this causes a lack of confidence about those decisions and, more importantly, their future.More than half (56%) admit to having limited knowledge of investment options. And that might be a bit low, as 31% say they use the plan’s qualified default investment alternative (QDIA), but our participant data shows that a full 58% are defaulted into the QDIA, and even more people affirmatively elect it. This indicates that many may not fully know what they’ve invested in or how they got there.Based on the survey results, the main sentiment was resounding—people want and need some form of help. The top desire for resources within a retirement plan is access to financial advice, and participants feel this could have a dramatic impact, as shown below:That added confidence with advice extends dramatically to other priorities:Bottom line: In terms of helping participants feel confident about retirement, this survey found that investment advice is a key feature of a retirement plan and will help strengthen confidence to better achieve retirement priorities. The good news is that plan sponsors have options in providing this help, ranging from investment education to managed accounts and advice through a third party.Read more insights from the survey results and find other Principal survey findings on their retirement research and thought capital site.Insights shared by guest contributors are their own and do not represent the views of DCIIA or the RRC. RRC members are welcome to reach out about being a future guest contributor to the Research Minute - contact rrc@dciia.org.