Money Worries Mean Most Americans Don’t Want to Live to 100

According to the joint research, 40% of non-retired Americans say they plan to delay retirement due to inflation. The math is even more sobering when factoring in lower projected 10-year portfolio returns, they warned, as extending retirement by just five years during a period of weak market returns increases the risk of running out of money by more than 300%.

“Too many people underestimate how long they’ll live — and that blind spot can seriously undermine their financial security,” Finke said. “We consistently see that those who plan for longevity feel more confident about retirement. The key drivers of that confidence include working with an advisor, having access to guaranteed income, and building a plan that’s designed to last.”

Rodriguez emphasized the role that advisors, asset managers, insurance carriers and other stakeholders can play in creating retirement confidence and security for their shared clients.

“When people think seriously about living longer, it becomes clear that physical, mental and financial health go hand in hand,” Rodriguez said. “Just as we encourage healthy habits to support longer lives, we need to help build strong financial habits that ensure people can thrive well into their later years.”

Retirement planning, the findings suggest, needs a major reset. Consumers and advisors must shift their mindset, Rodriguez and Finke said, to prioritizing longevity risk and placing a stronger emphasis on guaranteed income strategies that can weather uncertainty.

Survey Highlights

Just 48% of Americans factor lifespan into their savings and investment decisions, and only 26% of respondents correctly estimated the longevity of a 65-year-old man, according to the joint research.

“This is a big deal, especially for professional financial planners who are generally serving people who are both wealthier and healthier than the average,” Finke said. “Your clients aren’t all just going to live to the average projected age; many will live well beyond that age. They are the people on the right side of the longevity bell curve.”

If Americans knew they would live longer, the data suggests, many would take meaningful action to improve their physical and financial well-being. This includes adopting healthier lifestyles, paying closer attention to debt and carefully planning one’s retirement date. In other words, mindset matters.

“That fact has been borne out in prior research from the College,” Finke said. “For example, we’ve shown that longevity optimists are 75% more likely to save at least 10% of their income — underscoring how a positive perspective can drive more financially secure retirements.”

Income Solutions and Insurance

It’s worrying that such a significant majority of Americans say that society is not prepared to meet the needs of people with longer lifespans, Rodriguez observed, but she noted that effective solutions already exist.

These include long-term care insurance and guaranteed income products, including annuities and protected retirement solutions that are available to retail investors and in a growing number of employer-sponsored retirement plans. The problem? These tools remain widely misunderstood or overlooked, highlighting a significant gap in consumer education.

“Bridging that gap is a big goal for the Nationwide Retirement Institute and a big part of my role as the head of Nationwide Financial marketing,” Rodriguez said. “It’s the goal at the center of our Total Retirement Income Planning initiative, which offers a variety of tools and resources for advisors to address the longevity challenge for clients.”

Even as 32% of consumers believe that long-term care insurance would be one of the most helpful resources for preparing to live to 100, only 1 in 10 report owning a policy.

The story is similar for annuities, Rodriguez and Finke noted, as 31% of consumers say that an investment guaranteeing income for life would help them feel more financially secure. Despite that, knowledge and adoption of these products remain low.

One helpful development, they agreed, is the innovation allowing workplace retirement plans to more easily provide guaranteed income solutions to savers. This type of solution is growing, they noted, but there remains an opportunity to encourage more widespread adoption of these features.

“As the risk of longevity combined with today’s volatile market environment create what might seem like a perfect storm for retirement savers, the good news is that solutions exist to provide a measure of certainty in an uncertain environment,” Rodriguez said. "Financial professionals and others serving America’s retirement savers can play a critical role in bridging this gap, tailoring strategies to individual needs."

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