Majority of Americans over 50 worry they won't have enough money for retirement: Study – USA TODAY

May 3, 2024

AARP’s annual survey found that men are also less financially secure than they once were, with more people worried about not having enough money to live comfortably in retirement.

of AARP Financial Security Trends SurveyThe study, conducted in January and published in April, included interviews with more than 8,300 Americans age 30 and older from every state in the country. Conducted by NORC at the University of ChicagoThis survey aims to analyze Americans’ financial experiences and attitudes.

One of the survey’s biggest findings is that 61% of people 50 and older are worried they won’t have enough money for retirement, Indira Venkat, AARP’s senior vice president of research, told the USA on Wednesday. told TODAY.

And when you break down those numbers further, Venkat said, one in five non-retirees has no savings at all.

“Compared to last year, more retirement savers aged 50 and over no longer expect to save enough if they continue with their current savings rates,” she says.

These numbers “should be a wake-up call to all of us,” she says.

Adults worry about having enough money for retirement. What does this mean?

Venkat said some people are worried about saving for retirement because they don’t have access to a retirement plan through work.

“Currently, nearly half of the private sector workforce, or 57 million workers, do not have the option to save for retirement through their jobs,” she said.

People with access to retirement plans are more likely to save, she says.

Another reason for retirement concerns is inflation. She called this a “bread and butter” and “kitchen table” issue, saying many people are struggling to buy basic necessities and gas.

In fact, more than 70% of all respondents expressed concern about prices rising faster than their incomes.

Many people also carry monthly balances on their credit cards, she says. According to the researchers, the average monthly credit card debt increased from $7,538 in January 2023 to $8,169 in January 2024.

Gender and financial planning

AARP particularly focused on the findings among men.

Among men who regularly save for retirement, 28% save more than 10% of their income. The number of men will increase in January 2022 – 35% – Saved over 10%.

Other findings include:

40% of men worry about basic expenses (up from 33% in January 2022)
42% of all men over 30 describe their financial situation as “fair” or “poor” (up from 34% in January 2022)
43% of men carry a credit card balance (up from 38% in January 2022)
62% of men now have emergency savings (down from 69% in January 2022)

“We’re seeing that men today are a little more concerned about their financial security and their situation than they used to be,” Venkat says. “42% of men say their financial situation is terrible when asked about it.”

The research team also compared men’s and women’s responses and found that:

62% of men are more likely to have emergency savings compared to 58% of women
42% of men are less likely to worry about managing their debt compared to 47% of women
61% of men with debt believe their debt is manageable, compared to 52% of women

Limitations of the study

Venkat said the study was “very robust” and was conducted using a probability sample, but one limitation was that it was conducted only in English and Spanish.

“To the extent that there are other dominant spoken languages in the household, those people were not included in this study,” she said. “And of course, that’s the standard margin of error for any survey.”

Survey respondents’ financial plans

Venkat said there were some surprising discoveries regarding financial planning.

Among seniors who have not yet retired, 94% say it is important to have a plan to manage their money in retirement. Only 21% of people say they have a plan for how to manage their money in retirement.