Americans say they are ready for retirement. The numbers say otherwise.
A survey of 1,000 Americans over 55 found that 60% of respondents said they were very confident they would retire as planned. But only 27% felt very financially prepared for retirement. The gap between confidence and cash is large, and it is getting wider as the cost of living climbs.
The Numbers Behind the Confidence
The survey was conducted by Asset Preservation Wealth & Tax. Most Americans are not as ready as they claim to be.
The survey found that 53% of respondents felt somewhat prepared for retirement. That is the middle ground, but it is not comfort. The remaining 18% — nearly one in five — felt not very or not prepared at all. That is a significant portion of a generation that has been promised a secure future.
The concerns are specific and familiar. The top fears are the rising cost of living, rising health care costs, and changes to Social Security. These are not abstract worries. They are the bills that arrive every month, the premiums that rise, and the questions about whether a fixed income will hold up in a world where prices keep climbing.
The Principal Survey Adds Depth
A separate survey from Principal Financial Group, conducted in 2025, found that 54% of respondents said their financial situations would improve. The same percentage worried about running out of savings in retirement. That survey targeted individuals who identified as “household financial decision makers,” which narrows the focus but raises the stakes.
The Principal survey shows a split in the mind of the average American. One part sees progress. The other part sees poverty. The two concerns sit side by side, and neither one wins.
How Gen X and Baby Boomers Compare
The survey broke the figures down by generation, and the picture gets more specific. Gen X respondents were the ones who came up short on retirement savings. Fully 70% of them didn’t believe their retirement savings were sufficient.
Baby boomers did not fare much better. Fifty percent of that generation said the same. That is a majority in both cases.
The generational breakdown reveals a pattern: younger workers are far less confident than older workers. The confidence gap is not just about feeling good or bad. It is about money.
The Confidence Gap
The survey found that 60% of respondents were very confident they would retire as planned. That is a majority. But only 27% felt very financially prepared. The gap between confidence and cash is the story here.
It is a familiar pattern in human behavior. People overestimate their situation and underestimate the risks. They believe they will make enough, survive the downturns, and have enough left over. The survey suggests that belief is not matched by the numbers.
The survey also found that 52% of respondents had fears about outliving their savings. That is a majority with a specific worry. The difference between feeling prepared and being prepared is the difference between a comfortable retirement and a poor one.
The Advice You Should Consider
There is no single number that tells you whether you are ready for retirement. The standard rule of thumb is to save 10 times your income by age 67. That is a target, not a guarantee. It assumes you earn a steady income and save at a steady rate. It does not account for health problems, family obligations, or economic shocks.
Another rule of thumb is the replacement rate. That is the percentage of your pre-retirement income that you need to maintain your lifestyle. The commonly cited number is 70% to 80%.
The survey does not address these rules of thumb directly. It does not ask respondents to calculate their replacement rate. It does not ask them to compare their savings to their income.
The Bottom Line
The survey is a snapshot of what Americans think about their retirement prospects. The snapshot is not flattering. It shows a generation that is confident in its future but uncertain about its finances.
The survey found that 60% of respondents were very confident they would retire as planned. That is a majority. But only 27% felt very financially prepared. The gap between confidence and cash is the story here.
The survey also found that 52% of respondents had fears about outliving their savings. That is a majority with a specific worry. The difference between feeling prepared and being prepared is the difference between a comfortable retirement and a poor one.
The survey is a reminder that the future is not guaranteed. The survey is a reminder that the numbers matter more than the feelings. The survey is a reminder that retirement is a long road, and the road is getting harder.
- Most Americans are not as ready as they claim to be, according to the survey.
- Over half of respondents felt somewhat prepared for retirement.
- Nearly one in five respondents felt not very or not prepared at all.
- Nearly three-quarters of Gen X respondents didn’t believe their retirement savings were sufficient.
- Close to half of Baby Boomers said the same about their own savings.
- The principal survey found that 54% of respondents said their financial situations would improve, and the same percentage worried about running out of savings in retirement.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs individuals and small businesses and is against government funds that favor the biggest players in the economy. This survey, conducted by Asset Preservation Wealth & Tax, a company that stands to benefit from anxious respondents seeking financial advice, shows a gap between what Americans claim about their retirement and what their savings actually show.
The survey found that 60% of respondents were very confident they would retire as planned, but only 27% felt very financially prepared. The Principal survey adds another split: 54% expect their financial situations to improve, while the same percentage worry about running out of savings. That split shows the strain on household finances, not the confidence of the economy.
The survey’s framing matters. A company that gains from worried respondents asking for advice may present its results to raise concern, which then leads back to its own services. The paper’s position is that government funds should not favor the biggest players, and polls like this one show how easily surveys can be shaped by the interests of the companies that run them.
Source material: “Americans say they’re ready for retirement — but most aren’t actually prepared. How to know which camp you belong to,” Yahoo Finance.
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