Retirement crisis fears hit record high as debt and inflation squeeze Americans

Eight in 10 Americans now believe the United States faces a retirement crisis.

It’s the highest level recorded since the National Institute on Retirement Security began tracking the measure and comes as persistent inflation, mounting debt, and rising healthcare costs erode confidence in the nation's retirement system.

The newly released NIRS's Retirement Insecurity 2026: Americans' Views of Retirement, based on an online survey of 1,203 adults aged 25 and older conducted between October and November 2025 by Greenwald Research, reveals that the share of Americans who see a retirement crisis has risen sharply from 67% in 2020.  

"Americans are telling us that retirement security is becoming harder to achieve as they struggle with the affordability of everyday life," said Dan Doonan, executive director of the National Institute on Retirement Security, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit research organization.

The survey found that 68% of respondents say preparing for retirement is getting harder, up from 58% in 2020. The share who describe it as "much harder" jumped to 45%, compared with 31% six years ago. Nearly eight in 10 Americans (79%) say the average worker simply cannot save enough on their own for a secure retirement.

The debt and affordability wall

When asked to identify the biggest barriers to saving, Americans cited a combination of structural and personal financial pressures.

Debt repayment was the most commonly cited personal obstacle at 41%, followed by high housing costs (39%), unexpected emergency expenses (30%), and healthcare or medical bills (25%). Thirteen percent pointed to a lack of access to a workplace retirement plan, while 12% cited childcare costs.

At the macro level, the findings are stark. Some 74% of Americans say debt is a personal problem preventing adequate retirement savings, while 77% say debt broadly undermines the country's ability to prepare for retirement.

Healthcare costs in retirement and inflation each registered as a concern for 91% of respondents, followed by long-term care costs at 89% and wages failing to keep pace at 88%.

These numbers arrive at a moment when emergency savings gaps are quietly draining American retirement accounts, a trend financial advisors have watched deepen over the past two years.

The savings reality is sobering: 47% of survey respondents have less than $100,000 set aside for retirement, and 18% report having no retirement savings at all. More than half said they did not begin saving until after age 30.

The knowledge gap compounds the savings gap: only 9% of respondents correctly identified how much annual income $100,000 in savings would generate using standard withdrawal guidelines, roughly $4,000 in the first year.

Wariness toward AI and crypto

The report also captures growing ambivalence about emerging financial technologies.

While 63% of Americans said they have used an AI tool in some capacity, nearly half said they are uncomfortable with AI delivering financial advice. Sixty-one percent said they have not used AI for financial or retirement planning questions.

Among those open to using AI in financial contexts, budgeting was the most cited potential use at 38%, followed by investing at 34% and retirement planning at 32%.

The results suggest a gap between general AI adoption and trust in its application to high-stakes financial decisions, a distinction that carries direct implications for advisory firms exploring AI-assisted planning tools.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents described cryptocurrency in retirement plans as risky, and 53% oppose employers offering it as an investment option. The findings land as regulatory debates over crypto options in 401(k) plans continue to evolve, with the Department of Labor's guidance remaining a live issue for plan sponsors and advisors alike.

Pensions gain ground in public sentiment

Despite the broader pessimism, the NIRS data reveals a continued and strengthening preference for defined benefit structures.

Seventy-six percent of respondents view pensions favorably, and 69% say pensions help workers achieve retirement security more effectively than 401(k)-style defined contribution plans, up from 65% in 2020.

More than half of respondents (57%) said they would choose a job with a pension over an otherwise identical role offering a 401(k), and 84% of workers without pension access said they would be more likely to stay with an employer that offered one.