These are the 10 biggest retirement fears - and what you can do about them

By Richard Eisenberg

No amount of wealth can erase retirement worries

Pre-retirees and retirees need to identify their fears and then take steps to address them.

When David Luff, a digital health executive in Portsmouth, N.H., retired last October at 67, his biggest retirement fears were whether he and his wife would have enough money, how much their healthcare would cost and how they would navigate long-term care.

"My fears were about things I can control, not things I can't - like the economy and inflation," Luff said.

His fears are very much in line with the new Retirement Fear Index created by retirement coach David Conti. The monthly index uses artificial intelligence to track 10 types of retirement fears Conti identified, such as market volatility and the combination of healthcare and long-term care costs, with each fear weighted by how much of the national conversation he thinks each commands based on media coverage and social media engagement.

Most retirement fears are actionable

No amount of wealth can dispel retirement worries.

"Even if you have $10 million, you still have fears about retirement," said Conti, who worked in Fidelity's wealth-management department for 18 years. "The good news is that about two-thirds of the index's big 10 fears are actionable. So, with good financial planning and retirement coaching for the nonfinancial side, people can do something about them."

The actionable fears can be reduced through things financial planners address, such as risk management, smart investing and insurance protection. The few that are nonactionable are ones Conti calls "psycho-spiritual" and result from things like family issues.

The Retirement Fear Index is a meta-analysis of 28 sources, including findings from retirement researchers at places like the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and the Employee Benefit Research Institute, as well as retirement-related news like the latest Social Security solvency estimates from the Social Security Administration trustees.

The Retirement Fear Index's rise and recent drop

This index has been rising mostly steadily and is now nearly 22 percentage points above its December 2025 baseline. Earlier this year, the index-level increases were due to things like inflation-inducing tariffs, higher gas prices stemming from the Iran war, and greater market volatility. The index dropped slightly in August due to cooling inflation and an increase in the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index. But it inched up again in its September reading due to heightened fears about market volatility, outliving savings, housing and cognitive decline.

Conti intentionally created a retirement fear index rather than a retirement anxiety index. "Anxiety is something that might happen in the future and fear is more of a present threat," he said on the "Friends Talk Money podcast I co-host.

The 10 biggest retirement fears

The 10 retirement fears tracked by his index, listed from highest weighting to lowest:

-- Healthcare and long-term-care costs

-- Outliving savings/longevity risk

-- Social Security and pension insolvency

-- Inflation and rising everyday costs

-- Cognitive decline/loss of independence

-- Market volatility and sequence-of-returns (the risk that poor investment returns early in retirement would reduce retirees' portfolios)

-- Loss of purpose/identity crisis

-- Housing affordability and maintenance

-- Family caregiving burdens and isolation

-- Taxes and regulatory changes

Several of these top fears aren't financial. "Retirement is really not about money; it's about living life," said Conti.

He thinks it's understandable why healthcare costs and long-term care costs are the No. 1 fear.

"The fear is: 'What if I have a health event or something happens to my spouse?' What are we going to do? Who's going to pay for it?'" Conti said on the podcast. Only about 10% of Americans have long-term-care insurance, he noted. People often overestimate how much Medicare covers those specific needs, such as a nursing home stay or custodial care.

Although taxes and regulatory changes get the lowest weighting in the index, Conti said Americans need to plan more for potential tax expenses in retirement. "In terms of retirement budgeting, it's one of the top categories retirees do not budget for because people don't think much about it," Conti said.

He has his eyes on a few things that could alter the trajectory of the Retirement Fear Index: this fall's announcement of the size of Medicare Part B premiums in 2027, the Social Security trustees' 2027 report, and the 2028 presidential election. Those three events can increase costs in retirement or raise concerns about retirement security.

How to address your retirement fears

The key takeaway from the Retirement Fear Index, said Conti, is that pre-retirees and retirees need to identify their fears and then take steps to address them.

You may not be able to do anything about the fear that Social Security might shrink your benefits due to its solvency challenges. But you can take precautionary steps to lower your expenses and become less dependent on government retirement income. For example, Conti said, "You can reduce your debt."

If you fear healthcare costs in retirement, "start learning about Medicare," Conti advised. Open enrollment season is starting in October, and current and future participants can get an idea of the types of plans available in their areas. This is a good time to review current medical needs, such as medications and doctor visits, as well as assess what type of healthcare will be likely in the coming year, including a procedure or a new prescription.

Concerned about your health worsening in retirement? Exercise more and eat healthier, Conti said.

That's what Luff is doing. "I'm spending more time on my health, probably working out two or three hours a day now," he said. "When you're working, you kind of ignore your health."

If you're nervous about long-term care if you need it, you could do what Luff has done: Look into nearby continuing care residential communities. You move into one of their independent living units and one day, if necessary, you can transfer to one of their assisted living residences.

"If we could get into a place like that, it will be there to take care of us," Luff said.

-Richard Eisenberg

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-13-26 1710ET