--- title: 'Wealthy Americans Aren’t Worried Enough About Retirement: Report' description: Are you not worried enough about retirement? Many households will be surprised they're at risk of being unprepared for retirement. authors: - name: Mary Ellen Cagnassola role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/mary-ellen-cagnassola/ bio: Mary Ellen (M.E.) Cagnassola is a former reporter at Money, where she covered Social Security, retirement, housing, and employment. Her work reflects her commitment to service and equity in consumer finance. education: Rutgers University, BA Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 205 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - 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: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-06-14T14:32:49.000Z' modified: '2024-04-17T13:10:33.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - News - Retirement word_count: 729 canonical: https://money.com/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/ 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 with retirement thoughts following him everywhere](https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-too-worried-about-retirement-savings.jpg?crop=0px%2C20px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85) From [shrinking Social Security](https://money.com/americans-believe-social-security-going-away/) benefits and longer lifespans to macroeconomic factors like [inflation](https://money.com/inflation-recession-fears-hitting-401k-contributions/), Americans have plenty to worry about when it comes to [planning their retirements](https://money.com/some-adults-have-to-pay-parents-retirement-costs/). New analysis, however, suggests many people should actually be more worried than they are about their retirement preparedness. The National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) [report](https://crr.bc.edu/briefs-financing-retirement/how-well-do-people-perceive-their-retirement-preparedness/) from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that over a quarter of U.S. households overestimate their ability to maintain their lifestyles in retirement, especially those with higher incomes. ## Long-Term Care Insurance allows you to know that you and your loved ones are financially protected as you age ### Regular health insurance, disability insurance, and Medicare are not designed to cover long-term care costs. Get Long-Term Care Insurance today - select your state to get a free quote. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/b569008ea8c5?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-savings-worried-risk-survey%2F&url=%2Flong-term-care-insurance%2Flp%2Fbest-long-term-care-insurance-money) ## What the data says - Most households assessed in the NRRI have a pretty accurate idea of whether they’re retirement ready: 40% are on track for retirement and reported as such, and 20% are in danger of not being prepared for retirement and know it. The remaining 40% are either “not worried enough” or “too worried.” - While the NRRI predicts that nearly half of households are at risk of not having enough money for [retirement](https://money.com/retirement-do-over-common-regrets/), only about a third self-reported being at risk. - Comparing the self-assessment data to the NRRI’s predictions, 28% of households overall think they’re not at risk of being financially unprepared for retirement even though the index predicts they are. - While the NRRI found that households across income levels underestimate their level of risk in relation to retirement preparedness, wealthier households were the most likely to be “not worried enough.” Almost a third (32%) of high-income households fell into this category, compared to 26% for both middle- and low-income households. - “Those ‘not worried enough’ are more likely to have higher incomes and may misjudge how much their assets can provide,” the report says. - Another 15%, meanwhile, are “too worried,” believing they will not have enough for retirement even though the index predicts that they’re on track. Lower-income households were the more likely to fall into this category. ## Who should be more worried about retirement? What characteristics made households more likely to be “not worried enough” about retirement? Researchers used a variety of factors to explain the likelihood of households ending up in a given category, like retirement plan participation, [retirement savings](https://money.com/married-couples-increase-retirement-savings-401k/), property ownership and more Households that fell into the “not worried enough” category tended to have higher debt-to-asset ratios and lower asset balances in [401(k)s](https://money.com/what-is-a-401k-rollover/) and other defined contribution plans. Two-earner households with only one saver were also more likely to be “not worried enough.” The analysis found that “too worried” households were not aware of how much income they’ll have in retirement and may have [less confidence](https://money.com/retirement-confidence-plunging-inflation/) in asset markets. Other characteristics that made households more likely to be “too worried” include owning a home, increased risk aversion, being married with one earner and low self-reported financial knowledge. “Households that are not worried enough about their retirement income may not save enough even if they have the opportunity; households that are too worried may unnecessarily sacrifice their pre-retirement standard of living,” the report says. ## Retirement preparedness: How to NRRI is calculated The NRRI measures the percentage of working households at risk of being financially unprepared for retirement using data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances, which was last conducted in 2019. The survey asks individual households to rate the adequacy of their expected retirement income from one to five, with one being “totally inadequate,” three being “enough to maintain living standards” and five being “very satisfactory.” Households that answer one or two consider themselves “at risk.” The index then predicts actual retirement readiness across income groups — low, middle and high — based on expected household retirement assets reported in the survey, including Social Security, household wealth, pensions, home value and company-sponsored retirement accounts like 401(k)s. The income groups are defined by marital status and age, according to a spokesperson for the Center for Retirement Research. Married households ages 45 to 47 with median incomes of $50,000, $110,000 and $248,000 are considered low, middle, and high income, respectively. Keep in mind that the index defines "at-risk" differently across the income groups. For low-income earners, "at risk" means not be able to cover the cost of basic necessities in retirement, while higher-income households that are at-risk may just have to lower their expectations for their lifestyle in retirement. ## Get the care you will need after age 65 ### 70% of people 65+ will require long-term care. A Long-Term Care Insurance policy makes the process easier by helping you pay for the care you need in your golden years. [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/k696436a32ba?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-savings-worried-risk-survey%2F&url=%2Flong-term-care-insurance%2Flp%2Fabm-pub-best-ltc-insurance) ![](https://s3.consumersadvocate.org/prd/image/image/1402/medium_fWrleDLaHsZEAmRdSdadlEauvRehdv.png) Getting Long-Term Care Insurance allows you to know that you're protected as you age [View Rates](https://money.com/pr/be10e253227a?ap_referrer=%2Fretirement-savings-worried-risk-survey%2F) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Saving Money", "item": "https://money.com/saving-money/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Wealthy Americans Aren’t Worried Enough About Retirement: Report" } ] }, { "@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/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/", "name": "Wealthy Americans Aren’t Worried Enough About Retirement: Report", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-06-14T14:32:49.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/retirement-savings-worried-risk-survey/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-04-17T13:10:33.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Wealthy Americans Aren’t Worried Enough About Retirement: Report", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/06/News-too-worried-about-retirement-savings.jpg?crop=0px%2C20px%2C2880px%2C1620px&quality=85", "width": 1012, "height": 569, "caption": "News-too-worried-about-retirement savings" } ], "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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