--- title: Inflation Is Making Older Americans Scared They'll Run out of Money in Retirement description: Nearly one-third of older Americans believe they will outlive their money, according to a recent study by the American Advisors Group. authors: - name: Mallika Mitra role: Contributing Editor url: https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/ bio: Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. She has covered investing and retirement for seven years and her work has appeared in CNBC, Bloomberg, Kiplinger, AARP, Barron’s, Bankrate, The Daily Upside, ETF.com, The Bond Buyer, PLANADVISER, PLANSPONSOR and Investopedia. education: Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Kalamazoo College at_money_since: 2020 articles: 395 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - CNBC - Bloomberg - Kiplinger - Barron's - Bankrate - WGN-TV - CBS News Radio - This Morning With Gordon Deal - Everyone's Talkin' Money social: - https://twitter.com/mitra_mallika - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallika-mitra-4577a386/ published: '2022-02-16T18:53:28.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T13:12:57.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - inflation word_count: 557 canonical: https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Older Couple Sitting At Kitchen Table Looking At Documents](https://img.money.com/2022/02/News-Older-Americans-Think-Outlive-Savings.jpg) Current sky-high [inflation](https://money.com/inflation-gas-meat-car-prices/) rates have older Americans afraid their money won't last as long as their retirement. Just over a third (36%) of people between the ages of 60 and 75 say they have less money than they thought they would at this point in their lives, and 29% believe they will outlive their retirement funds, according to a recent [survey](https://www.aag.com/retirement-survey-2022/p/1) from the American Advisors Group. Polled in December, the 1,580 survey respondents reported feeling especially concerned about their post-career finances amid rising prices, with 66% saying they're worried inflation will negatively impact their retirement. “Many seniors in this country are discovering that their retirement plans aren’t working out as they had hoped, and inflation is only making that reality worse,” Martin Lenoir, the group's chief marketing officer, said in a [news release](https://www.aag.com/company-news/press-release/inflation-is-affecting-two-thirds-of-american-seniors-according-to-aag-survey/) accompanying the survey. The country's retirement crisis is ballooning, with [health care costs rising](https://money.com/this-chart-shows-how-much-health-care-will-cost-in-retirement-at-every-age/), safety nets like [Social Security](https://money.com/social-security-benefits-run-out-of-money/) facing uncertain futures and [people generally living longer than ever](https://www.statnews.com/2017/02/14/living-longer-living-better-aging/). Now, prices are increasing for everything from [groceries](https://money.com/save-money-on-groceries/) to [cars](https://money.com/how-to-buy-a-car-in-2022/) to [rent](https://money.com/rent-prices-vs-mortgage-increase-inflation/). Overall, inflation is at a 40-year high, with consumer prices surging 7.5% in January compared to a year earlier. It makes sense that those in or nearing retirement would be particularly anxious about their finances, especially as more than half of the survey respondents indicated that the cost of living is higher than they expected. Older people are also requiring more money than they have for their retirements. The survey found that 37% of older Americans say they need to increase their monthly cashflow in order to live comfortably. For context, Americans age 65 and older spend an average of $48,106 per year — including $6,719 on health care — according to recent data from the [Bureau of Labor Statistics](https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/mid-year/mean-item-share-average-standard-error/reference-person-age-ranges-2019-2020.pdf). ## How to inflation-proof your retirement The [amount of money you need to save for retirement](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/) differs from person to person based on several factors, including when you want to retire and what you want your retirement lifestyle to look like. If you want to have a lifestyle in your retirement that looks like the one you have during your career, [Fidelity suggests](https://www.fidelity.com/viewpoints/retirement/how-much-do-i-need-to-retire) trying to save 10 times your income by the time you’re 67. That means saving one year's salary by the time you're 30, three times your salary by age 40, six times your salary by age 50 and eight times your salary by age 60. Of course, rising prices may have you second thinking whether the amount you've saving is actually enough. If you're planning to retire soon, experts say you should invest properly. Ensure you have the right mix of [bonds](https://money.com/i-bonds-savings-inflation/) in your portfolio, and that you’re diversified into other areas like commodities and real estate investment trusts (REITs), depending on your needs. You can check out [Money's story](https://money.com/inflation-2021-stocks-bitcoin-gold-reits-commodities/) on five ways to protect your investment portfolio from rising prices. Experts also suggest you budget for higher costs. “Have enough money set aside that's liquid that you will be able to meet emergencies or necessary expenditures even when there is an inflationary period going on,” Mary Johnson, a Social Security and Medicare policy analyst at The Senior Citizens League, [previously told Money](https://money.com/rising-inflation-retirement/). ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Retirement", "item": "https://money.com/retirement/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Retirement Planning", "item": "https://money.com/retirement-planning/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Inflation Is Making Older Americans Scared They'll Run out of Money in Retirement" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/", "name": "Inflation Is Making Older Americans Scared They'll Run out of Money in Retirement", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-02-16T18:53:28.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/inflation-outlive-money-retirement/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T13:12:57.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "Inflation Is Making Older Americans Scared They'll Run out of Money in Retirement", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/02/News-Older-Americans-Think-Outlive-Savings.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Older-Americans-Think-Outlive-Savings" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mallika Mitra", "url": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mallika-mitra/#author", "description": "Mallika Mitra is a contributing editor for Money, based in Chicago. 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