--- title: Will You Have to Work Forever? 1 in 5 Americans Think They’ll Never Retire description: Many Americans think they'll never retire, mostly because they can't afford it. They're worried Social Security won't pay their bills too. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former Money reporter specializing in Social Security and retirement coverage, with a focus on making complex policy accessible to readers. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes former_staff: true editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Retirement - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-07-21T16:25:35.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T13:14:36.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 488 canonical: https://money.com/never-retire-social-security-poll/ type: NewsArticle 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/). ![Illustration of a person working forever](https://img.money.com/2023/07/News-Americans-Think-Theyll-Never-Retire.jpg?crop=0px%2C228px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) Many working Americans are convinced they'll never get to retire, according to a new poll. The [survey](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/axios-ipsos-retirement-survey) from Axios and research firm Ipsos found that one in five [working U.S. adults](https://money.com/some-adults-have-to-pay-parents-retirement-costs/) don’t think they’ll ever retire, and 70% of them say the reason why is they won't be able to afford it. Most workers also don’t expect [Social Security](https://money.com/2024-cola-estimate-3-percent/) or pensions to cover their expenses in retirement. Ipsos surveyed 1,238 adults 18 or older about [retirement planning](https://money.com/saving-retirement-harder/) and expectations earlier this month, including 210 adults aged 55 and over. For many workers, retirement seems like a pipe dream. In fact, recent research shows that as the public safety net shrinks and lifespans increase, Americans think they’ll need at least $1.27 million saved to [retire comfortably](https://money.com/how-much-money-retire-comfortably/). Workers aren’t wrong to feel like retirement is out of reach, either: Pew Charitable Trusts found that millions of Americans [aren’t saving enough for retirement](https://money.com/retirement-savings-shortfall-state-automated-ira/), a looming crisis that could cost taxpayers over $1 trillion by 2040. All said, Americans still view retirement as a goal well worth pursuing: 80% in the Ipsos survey said that they think the whole point of working hard now is to have a nice retirement. But, unfortunately, many people feel ill-equipped to bankroll their post-working lives. [Missouri Will No Longer Tax Social Security Benefits, but These 11 States Still Do](https://money.com/social-security-tax-states/) [Best Long-Term Care Insurance Companies of 2023](https://money.com/best-long-term-care-insurance/) [AARP Says Social Security’s Customer Service Is Dangerously Inadequate](https://money.com/social-security-customer-service-aarp/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/never-retire-social-security-poll/#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": "Will You Have to Work Forever? 1 in 5 Americans Think They’ll Never Retire" } ] }, { "@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/never-retire-social-security-poll/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/never-retire-social-security-poll/", "name": "Will You Have to Work Forever? 1 in 5 Americans Think They’ll Never Retire", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-07-21T16:25:35.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/never-retire-social-security-poll/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/never-retire-social-security-poll/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T13:14:36.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Will You Have to Work Forever? 1 in 5 Americans Think They’ll Never Retire", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/07/News-Americans-Think-Theyll-Never-Retire.jpg?crop=0px%2C228px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-Americans-Think-Theyll-Never-Retire" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Ellen Cagnassola", "url": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/#author", "description": "Mary Ellen (M.E.) 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