Household costs putting more pressure on retirement savings: Goldman Sachs

Cost of living pressures are placing an increasing strain on Americans’ retirement savings, according to new research from Goldman Sachs.

The study: “The New Economics of Retirement, Making Every Dollar Saved Work Harder” found that, while many workers are employed and contributing to retirement plans, financial strain remains widespread. More specifically, it found that housing, healthcare, education, caregiving, and day-to-day living expenses are eating up an increasing share of household resources.

Goldman Sachs’ research surveyed 5,106 individuals, of whom 3,612 were working and 1,494 were retired.

“Household costs are increasingly competing with retirement savings,” said Christopher Ceder, senior retirement strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, during a webinar to discuss the results. “These challenges have been going on for some time, again, changing the economics we see retirement savers face,” he added.

Ceder pointed to the study’s finding that 66% of Gen Z, millennials, and Gen X expect to delay their retirement due to competing priorities.

The report also asked working respondents whether they were on track or better with regard to their retirement savings – last year 58% said they were on track or better, down from 68% in 2025.

Savings momentum also appears to be stalling – 39% of respondents said that they increased savings in 2026, down from 55% in 2025. Some 14% of participants said they had decreased savings this year, up from 8% in 2025.

Additionally, the research found that financial security does not uniformly improve with income, with individuals at both the upper and lower ends of earnings reporting financial concerns. Some 57% of respondents earning under $100,000 and 65% of those earning over $300,000, for example, said they had difficulty focusing at work due to financial stress.

Almost seven out of 10 individuals (69%) earning under $100,000 and just over three quarters (76%) of those earning over $300,000 said they have delayed financial goals.

“Obviously, there's a big difference between what it means to have an income of $50,000 and below versus $300,000-plus, but in terms of how it is manifesting in terms of financial strain, there certainly are some parallels to take note of,” said Ceder.

Other recent research has also highlighted the anxiety experienced by many U.S. workers. Some 69% of U.S. employers said workers are postponing their retirement amid economic uncertainty, according to Principal Financial. Inflation was cited as the key driver in the study.

Set against this backdrop, Goldman Sachs’ Ceder explained that retirement security today requires more than telling people just to save more. “It's going to require solutions that help every dollar saved work harder, last longer, and hold up under the pressure that we know that life brings,” he said.

To address these issues many financial advisors are starting to figure out how they can provide a broad range of services within a 401(k) plan, according to Ceder. “Layering in more digital services, layering in the use of advice in terms of how can that be part of the engagement, layering some of the education,” he said. “Then layering in again, where does more personalized tailored services make sense?”