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Retirement (Still) Tops Americans’ Financial Concerns

A new Gallup poll not only finds that Americans are worried about having enough money for retirement — that concern continues to top the list of financial concerns.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans were worried about having enough money for retirement, with 33% saying they were “very worried.” Overall, that concern crept up four percentage points from a year ago, edging out concerns about not being able to pay for serious medical costs as the No. 1 worry. Not that the latter doesn’t remain a concern; while 60% were worried, 35% were “very worried” about those serious medical costs.

Since Gallup began polling Americans in 2001 about their financial concerns, a majority have continually been worried about not being able to afford retirement — the top overall concern in each of those 16 years. Americans were less likely to worry about retirement in the early 2000s, with percentages ranging from 52% to 54%, but 60% or more have worried about retirement since 2005, including a peak of 67% in 2012.

Other Concerns

Serious medical costs, meanwhile, have consistently ranked as the second-most-expressed concern since 2001, with majorities in all but one poll in the past decade who said they were worried about the costs. The level of worry about serious medical costs peaked in 2012, at 62%. Prior to 2005, a smaller 45% to 50% of Americans expressed such concern.

Gallup has asked Americans how concerned they are about all seven financial issues each April since 2001 as part of the annual economically focused survey. These data come from Gallup’s April 6-10 “Economy and Personal Finance” survey. These findings matter to many lawmakers and regulators due to its source.

Nearly half of Americans report being concerned about not being able to pay medical costs for their normal health care (45%), while about one in three worry about not being able to pay their rent, mortgage or other housing costs (34%). Americans are least concerned about not being able to make minimum payments on their credit cards (21%), though like all of the issues measured, this is up from the prior year.

Additionally, 37% of Americans report being worried about not having enough money to pay for their children’s college, which is consistent with the range of 34% to 43% who have reported such worries since Gallup first asked this question in 2007.

While less than half of Americans indicated concern about their ability to maintain their standard of living from 2001 to 2007, Gallup notes that this became a majority concern by 2008 – peaking at 58% in 2011. Concern about maintaining one’s current standard of living subsided gradually each year after 2011, settling at 46% in 2015 before climbing yet again this year to 51%.

Bottom Line

Americans’ retirement funding remains atop their lists of concerns, with majorities also skeptical of their ability to pay for treatment of serious medical issues and worried their standard of living will deteriorate in the future. Despite some signs of gains for the economy, average Americans aren’t feeling them — and are a bit more concerned than they have been in recent years, according to Gallup.