A healthy retirement is getting more and more out of reach for many Americans. More than half of all Americans today do not have a retirement plan in place and rely on Social Security to either make ends meet or as their sole source of income, despite the fact that it is one of the things that keeps workers going.

The 2024 Annual Retirement Study by Allianz Life revealed this disturbing fact. The group surveyed 1,000 Americans over 25 in February and March of this year and found that 56% of them lack a solid financial strategy for their post-working years.

They also found that almost half (48 percent) worry about living too cheaply and not enjoying retirement to the fullest, which is particularly worrisome for those who lack sufficient savings to bridge the gap between their potential benefit amount and expenses.

And that problem isn’t going away; according to 42% of respondents, the growing cost of living is the biggest worry for retirees’ financial security, and 35% are worried about outliving their retirement assets. Subsequently, 45% of those surveyed expressed concern regarding the optimal way to receive retirement income distributions from their assets to ensure their longevity.

In addition, 32% of respondents expressed concern about healthcare costs, and 30% said they would overspend in retirement and run out of money.

In a statement, Kelly LaVigne, vice president of consumer insights at Allianz Life, summed up the alarming results of the report: You’re not prepared to retire if you don’t know how you’ll use your retirement assets to generate income.

While accumulating assets is a major component of retirement planning, it’s as crucial to know how you’ll use those assets to support your post-retirement lifestyle. Important choices like when to start receiving Social Security and what assets you have to cover your retirement expenses must be made in order to achieve this.

Other retirement centric surveys

Similar patterns have been seen in previous studies; many Americans who are getting close to retirement do not have enough money to pay their expenses for the near future and will not be able to save enough before making the decision. Even worse, a lot of elderly people don’t have any other sources of income save Social Security.

In earlier generations, retirement was frequently viewed as a clear, abrupt occurrence in which people worked until a specific age and then completely left the profession, Jim Davis, senior wealth manager at Texas-based Aspen Wealth Management, told Newsweek.

However, rather than quitting their jobs all at once, more retirees are now opting for a phased approach, in which they progressively cut back on their work hours. A combination of increased life expectancy, financial obligations, and the desire to maintain mental and social activity for a longer amount of time are the key drivers of this shift.

According to a recent Greenwald Research study conducted for Edelman Financial Engines, one-third of participants believe they will never be able to fully retire and will need to work at least part-time in their later years, which reinforced his claim.

In its 2023 analysis, the Pew Research Center also revealed a depressing fact: around one in five Americans 65 and older were still working in 2023, which is nearly twice as many as they were 35 years prior.

This series of polls culminated in a survey of 2,000 American retirees by financial consultancy firm The Motley Fool. They answered the question soon after the 2025 2.5 percent cost of living increase for Social Security benefits was announced, and they found that half are thinking about going back to work since they don’t have enough money.

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