Retirement savers are anxious about inflation and stock-market volatility: survey

By Alessandra Malito

More than a third of Americans say they intend to delay their retirement

Inflation and stock-market volatility have some retirement savers less confident about reaching their goals, a new survey found.

More than six in 10 workers say inflation is an "obstacle to saving for a comfortable retirement," according to a Charles Schwab survey of 401(k) plan participants -- up from 45% who said the same last year. Another four in 10 people say the stock market is an obstacle to saving for retirement, while last year, one-third of respondents said that.

Schwab surveyed 1,000 401(k) plan participants across 15 different retirement-plan providers.

Workers said they think they'll need to save an average of $1.8 million for retirement, but only 37% said they thought they'd be able to achieve that -- 10 percentage points less than last year, when workers, on average, said they'd need $1.7 million, Schwab found.

The Schwab study participants aren't the only ones who are concerned about their futures. Many working Americans who are 45 or older think they will need about $1.1 million to retire, according to the Schroders 2023 U.S. Retirement Survey of 2,000 people released earlier this year, but only one-fifth of those respondents think they'll be able to save that much. About six in 10 workers said they expect to have less than half a million dollars saved.

Saving for retirement is a priority for many people, and some workers specifically look for benefits like a 401(k) when searching for a job. Almost nine in 10 workers (88%) said they considered a 401(k) a necessity, just short of healthcare at 90%, the Schwab survey found. There's a reason for that -- on average, workers expect 40% of their retirement income to come from 401(k) plans, with the rest made up of other sources, such as Social Security, savings, a pension or part-time work.

-Alessandra Malito

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08-02-23 0905ET

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