Many Americans have been putting retirement saving and planning on the backburner recently, partly due to inflation and increasing rates have left little in their wallets to do otherwise. In turn, a majority of them now say they are more afraid of running out of money in retirement than dying, according to a study from Allianz Life.

Retirement Savings: Experts Say This Magic Number Is the Key — and It’s Not $1 Million
More: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

This “new retirement reality” has fundamentally shifted the long-term outlook for many Americans, and a whopping 61% of them share that sentiment, while not taking the necessary steps to be able to retire comfortably, the report found.

Kelly LaVigne, VP of consumer insights, Allianz Life, noted that the figure is up from 57% in 2022.

“What we have seen is that some of the longstanding risks to a retirement strategy like increasing cost of living have been magnified recently,” LaVigne said in an email. “At the same time, we found that 56% of Americans don’t know where to start planning beyond having a basic retirement account like a 401(k) or IRA. And only 42% have a written financial plan. People without a plan will be worried. That’s not surprising.”

On the other hand, LaVigne added that what is most surprising is the number of people who don’t anticipate creating a plan.

More from MarketWatch

Share via
Copy link
Powered by Social Snap