Inflation is reshaping retirement, but gaps in life planning rather than finances are leaving many Americans short of the retirement they envisioned.
Rising grocery bills, utility costs and gas prices have become the biggest financial concern for retirees and pre-retirees heading into the second half of 2026, according to a new survey released by the Oath Money & Meaning Institute, the research arm of Oath, a full-service financial and estate planning firm headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The Q3 2026 retirement survey, which drew 322 responses from Americans at or near retirement age with an average of $500,000 in savings, found that 25% of respondents identified rising costs of groceries, utilities and gas as their top financial worry for the remainder of the year. That figure outpaced concerns about investment or market losses, cited by 17%, and unexpected medical or health care expenses, at 11%. Meanwhile, nearly one in four respondents said they have no major financial worries at all.
The survey data suggests that while inflation is shaping choices, retirees are largely protecting their core financial needs. More than 40% of respondents said they have not cut back on spending over the past year.
Among those who have reduced their outlays, the belt-tightening is concentrated in discretionary categories: dining out tops the list at 36%, followed by shopping for non-essential items at 30%, travel or vacations at 26%, and entertainment or events at 24%.
By contrast, far fewer retirees reported cutting essential expenses. Only 3% said they have delayed medical care, 3% have reduced fitness or preventive care, and just 2% have cut essential items. The pattern points to a group that is managing costs on the margins — trimming the enjoyable extras — while keeping their financial fundamentals intact.
Even so, the survey makes clear that economic pressures are having a real effect on how retirement feels. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that rising prices or market volatility have made them feel less free to enjoy retirement over the past year; 39% said this happens "sometimes" and 21% said it happens "often." Only 9% said they had never experienced that sense of constraint.
"Most retirement investors we surveyed are financially stable and not in crisis, but many aren't fully realizing the retirement they imagined," said Rod Yancy, founder and CEO of Oath, a firm that serves thousands of clients across 46 offices in 23 states. "Our research shows that difference is tied to how deliberately they planned for life beyond money — purpose, routines, and relationships."
Perhaps the most telling finding for wealth management professionals is the gap between financial preparation and life preparation. Only 16% of respondents said they engaged in extensive, structured planning for how they wanted to spend their time, relationships, health and sense of purpose — separate from their financial plan.
A much larger share, 36%, said they gave it some thought but without structure, and 32% said they reflected on it informally without any real process. Eleven percent assumed retirement would sort itself out once they stopped working.
This gap shows up in the daily texture of retirees' lives. While 41% say their days "often" reflect what matters most to them, only 15% say that is "always" the case, and 31% say it is only "sometimes" true.
The two largest self-identified retirement phases among respondents were "stability/routine," at 35%, and "reorientation," at 26% — suggesting that while most are not struggling, many are still working out what a fulfilling retirement actually looks like for them.
About 70% of respondents reported engaging in something they find genuinely purposeful either frequently or regularly — a promising baseline. But the survey suggests that without deliberate planning for the non-financial dimensions of retirement, many Americans are arriving at a life that works on paper but falls short of its potential.
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