\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tby Selena Hill <\/p>\n
July 2, 2026<\/p>\n
The Fortune 500 CEO is urging Gen Z to prioritize retirement savings from their very first paycheck even if money is tight<\/p>\n
TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett says one of the smartest financial decisions she ever made came when she was earning just $26,000 a year.<\/p>\n
The Fortune 500 executive recently shared that while working in an entry-level position after graduating from the University of Houston in 1996, she immediately prioritized saving for retirement\u2014a habit she says helped shape her financial future.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI made $26,000 when I graduated from college\u2014that was $26,000 more than I made ever\u2014and so I immediately maxed out on my 401(k) plan,\u201d Duckett said during Fortune<\/em>\u2018s Titans and Disruptors of Industry<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n Duckett, who began her career at Fannie Mae before leading JPMorgan Chase\u2019s Consumer Banking division and later becoming CEO of TIAA, said her retirement strategy has remained consistent throughout her career.<\/p>\n Her advice to young professionals is simple: don\u2019t wait.<\/p>\n \u201cEspecially for young people, retirement seems so far away, but there\u2019s a hack,\u201d Duckett said. \u201cThe hack is: first job, first dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n She encouraged workers to contribute to their employer-sponsored retirement plan before they become accustomed to spending their full paycheck.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first thing I tell young people is, your very first job, max out before you get the check, because once you get it, you will find ways to spend it,\u201d Duckett said. \u201cPower of compounding: $1 today is worth more than $1 tomorrow\u2026You want to make sure you take full advantage of that match.\u201d <\/p>\n Duckett also recommends building wealth beyond a 401(k) by maintaining an emergency fund and investing in vehicles such as Roth IRAs, stocks, and high-yield savings accounts.<\/p>\n \u201cFor young people, max out understanding that you have to save to invest\u2026Max out on your retirement, have your rainy day fund to make sure that you can afford the flat tire and all the basic things that life will give you,\u201d she said. \u201cThen you can start investing.\u201d<\/p>\n Her commitment to retirement planning was also shaped by her family\u2019s experience. Duckett recalled discovering that her father, who had worked for decades in a warehouse and as a truck driver, never contributed to his employer\u2019s 401(k), leaving him with limited retirement savings.<\/p>\n \u201cWe definitely had financial insecurity growing up,\u201d Duckett said. \u201cI\u2019m like, \u2018Dad, this is not enough money for retirement\u2019\u2026He never contributed $1. That\u2019s 30-plus years of compounding that never got compounded.\u201d<\/p>\n Although her father began contributing later in life, Duckett said the experience reinforced the importance of starting early.<\/p>\n \u201cI just want to remind this next generation, if you go back 250 years and you look at where we are today, there is no better day that I want to be in than today,\u201d she said. \u201cThe future is always brighter because we get to decide.\u201d <\/p>\n RELATED CONTENT: Thasunda Brown Duckett Appointed As TIAA President and CEO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Selena Hill July 2, 2026 The Fortune 500 CEO is urging Gen Z to prioritize retirement savings from their very first paycheck even if money is tight TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett says one of the smartest financial decisions she ever made came when she was earning just $26,000 a year. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10666],"tags":[10415,3408,4505,1890,22678,22674,22671,22680,22679,22673,22677,22675,22676,811,22672],"class_list":["post-32526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reparations","tag-401k","tag-brown","tag-built","tag-ceo","tag-duckett","tag-gen-z","tag-gen-z-workers","tag-generational","tag-maxed","tag-retirement-savings","tag-thasunda","tag-thasunda-brown-duckett","tag-tiaa","tag-wealth","tag-young-professionals"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",0,0,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",0,0,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",0,0,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",150,150,false],"medium":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",300,300,false],"large":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",1024,1024,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",1536,1536,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",2048,2048,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",370,265,false],"kava-thumb-s":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",150,85,false],"kava-thumb-s-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",230,230,false],"kava-thumb-m":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",400,400,false],"kava-thumb-m-vertical":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",370,500,false],"kava-thumb-m-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",570,450,false],"kava-thumb-l":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",1170,650,false],"kava-thumb-xl":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",1920,1080,false],"kava-thumb-masonry":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",600,999,false],"kava-thumb-justify":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",640,640,false],"kava-thumb-justify-2":["https:\/\/blackenterprise-prod.b-cdn.net\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2024\/02\/IMG_8306.jpg",1280,640,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"#RiseCelestialStudios","author_link":"https:\/\/design-providers.com\/rise\/author\/ralph-c\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"REPARATIONS NEWS<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"by Selena Hill July 2, 2026 The Fortune 500 CEO is urging Gen Z to prioritize retirement savings from their very first paycheck even if money is tight TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett says one of the smartest financial decisions she ever made came when she was earning just $26,000 a year. 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