61% of Americans Fear They'll Never Save Enough for Retirement Despite Working for Decades

The bargain used to be straightforward. Work for decades, pay into a pension or a 401(k), and retire with enough to live on. A clear majority of Americans no longer trust that their side of the deal will pay off.

More than six in ten (61%) say they are worried they will not reach financial security in retirement, according to 'Retirement Insecurity 2026: Americans' Views of Retirement,' a national survey published on 26 August 2026 by the National Institute on Retirement Security. Nearly eight in ten (79%) go further, saying the average worker simply cannot save enough on their own for a secure retirement.

The gloom has deepened. Eighty per cent now describe the country as facing a retirement crisis, up sharply from 67% in 2020.

'Americans are telling us that retirement security is becoming harder to achieve as they struggle with the affordability of everyday life,' said Dan Doonan, the institute's executive director and a co-author of the report.

Why So Many Fear They Will Never Save Enough

The pressure is coming from every direction at once. Sixty-eight per cent say preparing for retirement is getting harder, up from 58% in 2020. Asked what is making it so difficult, respondents pointed to the rising cost of healthcare in retirement (91%), inflation (91%), long-term care (89%), wages failing to keep pace with expenses (88%), and mounting debt (87%).

Debt, in particular, is doing quiet damage. Almost three-quarters (74%) call it a problem in their own lives, and 77% say it stops them from putting enough aside for later. Asked what blocks them from saving more, respondents put paying down debt (41%) at the top of the list, followed by high housing costs (39%), and unexpected emergency expenses (30%).

'Housing, healthcare, debt and other expenses are competing with the need to save for retirement,' Doonan said. 'It is difficult to save for a retirement that may be decades away when families are struggling today to afford housing, healthcare and other necessities.'

The findings draw on responses from 1,203 adults aged 25 and older, surveyed online between 24 October and 14 November 2025.

Decades of Work, and Still Short on Retirement Savings

For many, the arithmetic is stark. Nearly half of those surveyed (47%) have less than $100,000 (£74,000) set aside, including 18% with nothing at all. More than half started late, waiting until 30 or older to begin.

The shortfall is not only financial but one of understanding. Asked how much annual income a $100,000 (£74,000) pot would realistically produce, only 9% chose a figure in line with a common withdrawal guideline, roughly $4,000 (£2,960) in the first year.

A separate and equally sobering picture comes from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, whose 36th annual Retirement Confidence Survey ran from 2 to 28 January 2026. It found that just 64% of Americans feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, down on the year before. Among workers, confidence slipped from 67% to 61%, and among retirees from 78% to 73%.

That erosion tracks a workforce bracing to stay in harness far longer. Nearly four in ten workers (39%) now expect to retire at 70 or older, or never. Sixty-five per cent say debt is a problem for their household.

'Retirement confidence has clearly softened this year and the data show why,' said Craig Copeland, EBRI's director of wealth benefits research.

Taken together, the two studies sketch a country where working hard for decades no longer guarantees a comfortable finish.

Americans are clear about who they blame. Eighty-four per cent say leaders in Washington do not understand the savings challenges households face, while 85% want retirement security treated as a higher national priority, up from 76% in 2020.

The old promise, in short, has quietly expired. What replaces it is still an open argument.