4 reasons retirement readiness is declining

Published Updated 3 Min Read

stock.adobe.com/whyframeshotAmericans are increasingly falling behind on their retirement savings, a Fidelity study found.

With each passing year, Americans are getting less ready for the future.

That’s the unsettling conclusion of a new study by Fidelity Investments, which found that U.S. adults are less prepared for retirement now than they were three years ago. According to the asset management, brokerage and custodial giant, the average American is on track to have only 78% of the income they’ll need in their post-work years — down from 83% in January 2020.

The top concern cited by Fidelity’s respondents was inflation. Last June, the consumer price index rose year-on-year by 9.1%, a rate not seen since the early 1980s. Since then, that pace has come down — in February it was at 6% — but prices remain stubbornly high.

As a result, Americans are finding it harder to save. Thirty-one percent of Fidelity’s respondents — including 36% of millennials — reported saving less for retirement because of rising prices. In general, 82% worried that inflation would eat into their finances.

Nathan Place
National Reporter

Nathan Place is a national reporter at American Banker. A native of New York City, he has worked for more than a decade in both print and video journalism. He got his start in Beijing, where he … Read full bio


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