Economic conditions have improved the retirement outlook for Americans this year, according to the 2023 Natixis Investment Managers’ Global Retirement Index released last week. But at the same time, survey data from Natixis Investment Managers shows that not everyone is feeling optimistic.
The United States received an overall score of 71% in the index in 2023. That’s up from 69% in 2022.
That result should be cause for celebration, but the survey of individual investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets found that 46% of working respondents in the US feel inflation is killing their dreams for retirement
In addition to the effects of inflation on home values and savings, the threat of reduced Social Security benefits ranks as one of investors’ top fears about retirement, according to the survey.
Although 52% of the working Americans surveyed said they expect to have enough money to do what they want, when they want, in retirement, 48% said they also expect to have to make tough choices and trade-offs. For instance:
- 42% expect to have no other option but to live frugally in retirement.
- 31% anticipate having to work in retirement.
- 31% expect to be forced to move somewhere less expensive.
- 28% think they will have to rely on family and friends to make ends meet.
- 26% expect to have to sell their homes.
“As economies have rebounded from the global pandemic, employment and wages have increased, but so has inflation, forcing central banks to boost interest rates,” Liana Magner, executive vice president and head of retirement and institutional in the US for Natixis Investment Managers, said in a statement. “It’s a good news-bad news scenario for retirement security and further underscores the complexity of the retirement funding challenge.”
