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The latest from our experts and research on the emerging topics impacting people and businesses’ ability to make financial progress.

Research initiatives

Global Financial Inclusion Index

Principal® Financial Well-Being Index℠

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Research and insights on financial security
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From FIRE to “money tok,” social media is reshaping how younger generations view retirement—here’s what financial professionals need to know about this digital shift.
A day in the factory, workers and managers with tablets and clipboards in hard hats smiling in conversation.

Even as economic storm clouds gather, small and mid-sized businesses are prioritizing talent and even benefits in 2025.
Middle-age woman looking at computer.

When market volatility and economic uncertainty dominate headlines, staying focused on long-term goals and ignoring the noise is key to financial success.
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Facing tariffs and macroeconomic pressures, SMBs can use four strategies to take a page from Chumbawumba and “get back up again”—and even grow—in 2025.
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Retirement investors are suffering a crisis of confidence that new solutions are poised to remedy.
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Recent research shows life’s financial challenges often disrupt retirement savings plans for working Americans.
Business financial health

Businesses report significant declines in the financial health of their business, their local economy, and the U.S. economy—eroding the sense of optimism expressed in years past.

Percent of businesses that believe the following are growing

The U.S. economy
Their local economy
Their business
Percent optimistic in economic outlook for next 12 months
Line graph shows U.S. business confidence metrics from 2020-2025, specifically a decline beginning July 2024.
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“Despite a drop in business sentiment, small and midsize businesses are holding on to their staff. Such a preference for labor hoarding comes even before the U.S.-China trade truce, indicating that small business layoffs may be even less likely in the months ahead. This should help prevent unemployment from rising significantly this year, which, in turn, lowers recession risk.”

–Seema Shah, Chief global strategist, Principal Asset Management®

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Asset management and investments

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Business and protection solutions

Discover key trends and timely issues for small and midsize business owners and their employees.

Retirement

Dive deep into insights across the retirement journeys of individuals and employers.

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Review the data that drives our Sustainability strategy.
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