Do you need to check your retirement confidence? How confident are you that your retirement dreams will match your reality?
According to a recent survey, only 64% of Americans feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement, trending down from last year.¹
Seven in 10 retirees and 8 in 10 workers said they are concerned that the U.S. government will make significant changes to the American retirement system.¹
Confidence in the future value of Social Security and Medicare benefits also declined. Only about half of workers and 3 in 5 retirees said they are confident those programs will continue to provide benefits of equal value in the future, according to the survey.¹
Costs of healthcare and housing were special concerns. Nearly 6 in 10 workers said the cost of healthcare is hurting their ability to save for retirement, while 2 in 5 retirees said healthcare expenses in retirement have been higher than expected. Seven in 10 workers and half of retirees are concerned that rising housing costs will affect their retirement.¹
How confident are you about your ability to live comfortably throughout your retirement years?
While your financial future and retirement may still seem daunting at times, there are steps you can take now to help you boost your confidence.
What's the best way to boost confidence in your retirement plan and improve its chances of success?
Develop a Written Retirement Plan
One of the best actionable steps you can take toward a secure retirement is creating a formal written financial plan. Formal plans can help keep you on track with your retirement goals and give you peace of mind.
A new survey found that the act of writing down a plan can substantially boost your retirement confidence. Specifically, the survey indicated that 87% of people with a written plan for retirement felt confident, while only 70% of those with an informal plan expressed the same.²
Additionally, formal retirement plans appear to increase the probability of completing key retirement planning activities, such as determining your income in retirement, calculating your total assets and investments available, and estimating the years those assets and investments will last.
Despite these advantages, the survey found that only 1 in 5 Americans has a formal written retirement plan, meaning many more Americans could benefit from the process of sitting down with a financial advisor and crafting a granular approach to retirement.²
If you do not have a retirement plan in place, it’s never too late to consider creating one to help you to achieve your goals. By taking action now, you can have assurance and control over your financial future.
Don't know where to start?
Attend one of our free FedImpact Retirement Workshops to arm you with the financial insights you need to retire ready.
After completing the workshop, you'll get one-on-one help to develop your free FedImpact Retirement Report and start identifying where you need help.
Sources:
¹2026 Retirement Confidence Survey, EBRI and Greenwald Research
²Retirement Investors Survey, LIMRA
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