Inflation is killing Americans’ retirement dreams

Dreams of a worry-free retirement are being squashed by inflation and a volatile stock market, a long-running survey on worker and retiree confidence finds.

Around 64% of workers and retirees report being somewhat or very confident they will have enough money to retire comfortably. That’s a marked decline from last year, when 73% reported the same, according to the 33rd annual Retirement Confidence Survey by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), which polled 2,537 Americans aged 25 or older. And just 18% of those surveyed feel very confident, compared to around 30% in 2022.

The last time there was such a precipitous drop in confidence? During the 2008 financial crisis.

Retirees are more optimistic than younger workers on the whole. Still, only a little more than a quarter say they are very confident about having enough to last them.

It will come as little surprise that inflation is the major pain point for many, and particularly among those no longer in the workforce. While around 29% of workers say the rising cost-of-living is shaking their belief in their long-term finances, 42% of retirees say it is. And half of retirees say they are spending more than they planned to, as prices for seemingly everything grow higher and higher.

The ever-rising cost of living has taken a toll on budgets across the country. But retirees are in a particularly precarious position, given many live on fixed income and don’t have the opportunity or ability to earn more. The Social Security Administration gave the biggest cost-of-living adjustment in 40 years for 2023 to try to help with rising costs.

Another report recently found those 45 and older say it will take $1.1 million to retire, given rising costs. So it’s no wonder that confidence would be dropping, considering the median full-time American worker with a 401(k) had $35,354 saved for retirement in 2022, according to Vanguard (the average, which is skewed by high earners, was $141,542).

Aside from inflation, last year’s stock market dip also helped to tank confidence in retirement, according to EBRI’s survey. Almost 60% of retirees said their retirement account balances fell over the past year.

All that said, confidence levels are still well above the survey’s record low. In 2011, just 49% of workers and 60% of retirees reported feeling confident they’d see a comfortable retirement. The recent economic turmoil may be anxiety-producing, but retirees and many older workers have seen worse.