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On January 1, 2020, the retirement industry, and plan sponsors in particular, might have been forgiven for thinking they were doing a pretty good job helping employees save for retirement. But the COVID-19 pandemic "changed everything," writes Wharton economist Olivia Mitchell in a working paper published this month.

Now new worries, such as how long, or even whether, the labor market will take to get back to pre-COVID-19 status, join the already increasing worries about pension funding levels. U.S. state and local pensions are suffering, with plan funding falling from an estimated 52% to 37%, the paper reports. In addition, retirement systems are "also feeling the pain" as payrolls and government tax revenues are contracting.

In beginning to offer ideas on how retirement plan savers, retirees and sponsors can try to weather what it appears will be a long-term pandemic impact, Mitchell puts forward the idea of pension saving, health care insurance and financial advice becoming "de-linked," or made separate, from people's employers.