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Fortune
Fortune
Emma Burleigh

TIAA’s CEO made $26,000 in her first job—and then immediately maxed out her 401(k). She has advice for Gen Z

TIAA CEO Thasunda Brown Ducket (Credit: Fortune's Titans and Disruptors of Industry podcast)

For young workers watching their salaries get eaten up by rent, groceries, and student loans, setting aside money for retirement can fall to the bottom of their list. But making little sacrifices over time is one of the best paths to ride out post-career days in comfort, according to TIAA President and CEO Thasunda Brown Duckett. Even when the retirement services leader was broke in her 20’s, she still found a way to invest in her future.

Right after graduating from the University of Houston in 1996, Duckett landed her first job at Fannie Mae: a government-backed mortgage finance company. And just like other Gen Zers working their way up from the bottom of the totem pole, money was tight.

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