--- title: Most People Say They've Reduced or Stopped Saving for Retirement Because of Inflation description: As if saving for retirement wasn't hard enough before the pandemic, inflation is further decimating Americans' nest eggs. 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: '2022-10-28T21:05:01.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:42:53.000Z' section: Retirement tags: - News word_count: 366 canonical: https://money.com/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/ 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/). ![Image of a one dollar bill with a cancel sign](https://img.money.com/2022/10/News-People-Stopped-Saving-Retirement.jpg?crop=0px%2C133px%2C2478px%2C1394px&quality=85) Saving enough for retirement is no easy feat, and a new survey indicates eye-popping inflation is making it much more difficult. More than half of Americans (54%) say they have cut back on retirement contributions or stopped saving entirely, according to a [survey](https://www.allianzlife.com/about/newsroom/2022-press-releases/inflation-causing-majority-of-americans-to-stop-or-reduce-retirement-savings) of 1,004 people from insurance company Allianz Life. The grim reality is a direct result of the [highest levels of inflation](https://money.com/items-prices-rising-faster-than-inflation/) in four decades. Millennials (65%) were most likely to say they stopped saving or reduced their contributions for retirement due to inflation, compared to 40% of baby boomers and 59% of Gen Xers. (Curiously, some other research indicates that Gen X in particular is [prioritizing saving for retirement](https://money.com/gen-x-cuts-all-spending-except-retirement/) above expenses like vacations.) The Allianz Life survey also found that a whopping 80% of respondents are worried about rising inflation and its impact on their purchasing power in the next six months, and 75% are concerned it could hurt their retirement plans. ## Saving for retirement amid high inflation The idea that Americans have trouble [saving for retirement](https://money.com/save-for-retirement/) isn’t new. According to Northwestern Mutual's most recent [research](https://news.northwesternmutual.com/planning-and-progress-study-2022), Americans anticipate they'll need a staggering $1.25 million to [afford a comfortable retirement](https://money.com/comfortable-retirement-cost-expectations/). Most people aren't anywhere near that amount. For a period during the pandemic, [America's savings rate was soaring](https://money.com/cornavirus-saving-habits/), in part due to stimulus checks and the fact that travel, restaurants and other common expenses were mostly off limits. But now the [savings boom appears to be over](https://money.com/savings-boom-over-inflation/). Northwestern Mutual data shows that the average retirement savings in America rose from $87,500 in 2020 up to $98,800 in 2021 — before retreating 11%, to $86,869, amid the high inflation and economic turmoil of 2022. Understandably, people are anxious about how inflation will play out for them in the future. Folks in their 40s and 50s are most concerned of all. Among Gen Xers, 80% say they're worried that inflation will affect their retirement plans, versus 72% of boomers and 76% of millennials. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/#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": "Most People Say They've Reduced or Stopped Saving for Retirement Because of Inflation" } ] }, { "@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/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/", "name": "Most People Say They've Reduced or Stopped Saving for Retirement Because of Inflation", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2022-10-28T21:05:01.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/people-stopped-saving-for-retirement-inflation/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:42:53.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Most People Say They've Reduced or Stopped Saving for Retirement Because of Inflation", "articleSection": "Retirement", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2022/10/News-People-Stopped-Saving-Retirement.jpg?crop=0px%2C133px%2C2478px%2C1394px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-People-Stopped-Saving-Retirement" } ], "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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