Fifty-seven percent of Americans believe they are behind in saving for retirement, according to the results of a new survey by Bankrate.
That percentage is up 1% from the 2023 survey.
Forty-eight percent of respondents who have a specific retirement savings goal in mind said that they don’t think they’ll hit the target.
Reasons for the pessimism, according to Bankrate, may include high inflation, high interest rates and a weakening job market. In September, however, job creation among private employers showed a “widespread rebound” in all areas except healthcare after a five-month slowdown, according to the ADP National Employment Report Economy Lab report released Oct. 3.
“Given the sharp divide among those who express confidence, or lack of it, that they’ll be able to retire comfortably, we see a continuing pattern in our country of the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots,” Bankrate senior economist Mark Hamrick said.
Despite the pessimism, 63% of respondents told Bankrate that they are contributing more, or at least the same amount, toward their retirement savings than they did a year ago. Thirty-seven percent said they are contributing less than they were a year ago or didn’t contribute to their emergency savings last year or now.
“A good number of these workers who feel or are behind on their savings are many years, or even decades, away from traditional retirement age,” Hamrick said. “Those who strive to prioritize retirement savings, as they should, have reason to believe they can achieve their goal. It takes information, focus and hard work, but the good news is that it can be done.”
Gen Z workers, born between 1997 and 2012, and millennial workers, born between 1981 and 1996, are more optimistic about their retirement savings than are older individuals, according to the survey results. Twenty percent of Gen Z respondents and 17% of millennial respondents said they feel they are ahead of where they should be on their retirement savings, compared with 11% of Gen X workers (born between 1965 and 1980) and 10% of baby boomer workers (born between 1946 and 1964).
“Education level-wise, workers with at most some college under their belt (or a two-year college degree) are the likeliest to feel behind on their retirement savings,” according to Bankrate. “Also, lower-income workers are the likeliest income bracket to feel behind on their retirement savings.”
