Retirement at a Glance

1. ZERO DAY INCHES CLOSER. Reserves in the Old-Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund will be depleted in Q4 2032, which is a quarter earlier than projections from a year ago. If Congress takes no action, Social Security benefits will fall by 22%. Two primary factors contributing to the earlier forecast include lower expected fertility and immigration rates. (Source: SSA)

2. FAILING IN FINANCE. The 2026 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index found that financial literacy in the US has fallen to its lowest level in the 10-year history of the index. On the 28-question test, American adults answered an average of only 47% correctly. Of the test’s six retirement-related questions, respondents answered an average of only two correctly. (Source: Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center)

3. WINGING IT IN RETIREMENT. In a study of working Americans aged 50–70 who had a workplace retirement savings account, 69% said they had yet to develop a plan for making their savings last in retirement. Even among participants with more than $500K in savings, fewer than half (46%) said they had already created a plan. (Source: AARP)

4. PLANNERS PROSPER. Nearly three quarters of current workers say they have a plan to reach their retirement goals, and 90% say that financial planning is necessary even in retirement. Among retirees who have a retirement plan, 81% say they have enough money to last their lifetimes compared to just 45% without a plan. (Source: Fidelity)

5. SAYING VS. DOING. 83% of all US employers believe that offering a 401(k) or similar plan is important for attracting employees, which is nearly identical to the 84% of employees who say that retirement benefits are a major factor in their decision making when job hunting. While both employers and employees agree on the importance of retirement benefits, only 27% of employers have adopted automatic enrollment. (Source: Transamerica)

6. NOT EVEN CLOSE. Americans say they need $1.46 million to retire comfortably, up from $1.26 million in 2025. Despite this increase, 23% of those with retirement accounts say they have only a year or less of their current annual income in savings. Gen X Americans, who are now nearing retirement, are the only age cohort where fewer than half of respondents think they will be financially prepared to retire. (Source: Northwestern Mutual)*

7. PRINCES AND PAUPERS.Nearly a third of retirees still had 100% or more of their original retirement assets remaining when they reached their mid-80s. Not all retirees have trouble spending down their savings, though: 20% of retirees who entered retirement with more than $500K in assets had less than 20% of their original savings by the time they reached their mid-80s. (Source: EBRI)

8. OVER THE HORIZON (STILL). American workers have pushed out their expected retirement age by nearly four years compared to their original plans. Workers in the financial services sector have extended the expected length of their careers the most (5.1 years), while the smallest gap between the ideal and expected retirement age is among government workers at just 2.9 years. (Source: Economist Enterprise)

9. TARGETING GUARANTEED INCOME. Assets in TDFs with annuities have increased from $12.5B in March 2024 to $43.6B in March 2026 but still only refl ect a small percentage of total assets in target date funds. These funds are able to deliver a steady stream of income without participants needing to withdraw assets from their current plans to purchase a separate annuity product, but their popularity remains to be seen. (Source: Morningstar)

QUESTION: Researchers found that nearly one-fifth of couples (19.2%) fail to efficiently allocate their retirement contributions by prioritizing a spouse’s lower-match plan before maxing out the one with the highest match rate. As a result of this inefficient contribution process, how much money are couples leaving on the table?