Half of retirees reveal they saved less than they need for their retirement

Time and again, Americans say that one of their biggest long-term financial fears is not having enough money to last through their retirement years – and a new report highlights the reality.

A study conducted in the summer asked around 3,600 retirees aged 62-75 about their retirement spending and half of those who took part said they should have saved more for retirement than they did.

Around one third said they got their retirement savings about right and just 17% were in the enviable position of having more money than they need.

A key takeaway from the EBRI Spending in Retirement study is that 36% of respondents said they had experienced unexpected spending requirements during their retirement so far, and while 59% said they have three months of emergency savings, this is down from 69% in 2022.

Half of those who took part were neutral on whether they considered that they have a spending or a saving mindset, while 38% said they are more inclined to save and 11% having a spending mindset.

Three in ten retirees said that their spending is a little higher or much higher than they can afford in 2024, up from 27% in 2022.

With this in mind, the study revealed a substantial increase in credit card debt compared to the previous biannual studies. Almost seven in ten respondents reported outstanding credit card debt in 2024 compared with around four in ten in the two previous studies.

The report also reveals that 20% of retirees cited IRAs as income sources (median share of income of 10%) while 17% cited 401(k)-like workplace retirement plans (median share of income of 15%).

Some of the respondents retired earlier than expected with the most common reasons being health problems or disability (38%) and changes at their employer such as downsizing, closure, or reorganization (23%).