More Than 40% of Americans Lack a Retirement Savings Plan
A new survey finds nearly half of Americans have never calculated how much money they will need in retirement, leaving them financially unprepared.
More than four in ten Americans are approaching retirement without a financial plan, according to new survey data, a finding that underscores a persistent gap in long-term financial preparedness across the country.
The core problem, researchers say, is that a large share of the population has never performed even a basic calculation of how much money they will need to sustain themselves after leaving the workforce. Without that baseline figure, workers have no clear savings target to work toward, making it difficult to gauge whether current contributions are adequate.
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Financial planners widely regard the retirement planning process as beginning with an estimate of future expenses — including housing, healthcare, and daily living costs — adjusted for life expectancy and expected Social Security income. Skipping that step leaves individuals exposed to the risk of outliving their savings, a concern that grows more acute as average lifespans extend.
The data arrives amid broader anxieties about retirement security in the United States, where the shift from employer-sponsored pension plans to individually managed accounts has transferred much of the planning burden onto workers themselves. Critics argue that financial literacy resources have not kept pace with that structural shift, leaving many people without the tools or guidance needed to navigate retirement planning effectively.
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