Gen X is the most indebted generation in America, and the average Gen Xer with outstanding student loans owed over $38,000 in 2025. Abbott is expanding its Freedom 2 Save program this year so employees who pay down student loans for dependents can qualify for the added retirement benefit.
Abbott Freedom 2 Save
Abbott launched Freedom 2 Save in 2018. Employees who put at least 2% of their salary toward student loan payments receive an automatic 5% company match in their 401(k), and Abbott has contributed over $10 million to employees’ retirement accounts while they paid off $16 million in student loans.
The expansion adds a new group to the program. Starting this year, workers who pay student loans for their dependents will also qualify for the retirement benefit, extending the same structure to a broader set of households carrying education debt.
Gen X Retirement Savings
The numbers around Gen X help explain why employers have started using retirement matches to address student loan payments. The average Millennial borrower owed roughly $33,000 in 2025, while the average Gen Z borrower owed nearly $22,000, leaving Gen X with the highest balance among the generations listed.
That debt load lands alongside weaker retirement savings. Just 16% of Gen Xers feel they have enough saved for retirement, and a 2023 study found the median member of the generation had $40,000 saved, while 40% had nothing saved at all.
SECURE 2.0 Act
The SECURE 2.0 Act made it easier for employers to match employees’ student loan payments with 401(k) contributions starting in 2024. Nearly two-thirds of employers now offer, or plan to offer, some form of student loan debt assistance, giving companies a legal path to help workers reduce debt without losing retirement contributions.
For workers in Gen X, the practical change is direct: paying student loans can now also build retirement savings through an employer match, instead of forcing a choice between the two. Abbott’s expansion pushes that approach further by covering dependents’ loans, which is where many middle-aged households still feel the strain.
