CNBC|SurveyMonkey Your Money Survey: Nearly Half of American Workers are 'Cautiously Optimistic' About Meeting Retirement Goals
Survey conducted in partnership with SurveyMonkey finds retirement is harder to achieve than it was for parents
The survey, which polled over 6,600 retired adults and adult workers (those who work full or part time or are self-employed or own their own business) in the U.S., finds that nearly half (44%) of workers are ‘cautiously optimistic’ about meeting retirement goals and a majority (82%) say achieving a comfortable retirement is ‘much harder or somewhat harder’ to achieve than it was for their parents. A majority (69%) of workers also express concern about being able to afford to fully stop working or retire, and 80% are worried that Social Security will not be enough to live off of in retirement.
Additionally, the survey finds that fewer than one in ten workers say they are “ahead of schedule” with retirement savings. Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed cite paying off debt or loans as the main reason for being behind schedule, tied with not having enough income to put into retirement. Four in ten (40%) also say they either started saving for retirement too late or they are not making enough money as leading causes for falling behind. However, most of the workers surveyed (71%) remain optimistic about their ability to meet their retirement goals.
“While many workers are somewhat optimistic, the research highlights the complexities workers are facing when planning for retirement,” said Eric Johnson, CEO at SurveyMonkey. “Employers and policymakers should be prepared to accommodate a workforce that increasingly expects to work longer and with more flexibility in their retirement journeys.”
Additional key findings from the CNBC Your Money Retirement Survey include:
Retirees:
Workers:
CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson will reveal the results of the CNBC Your Money Survey today, Wednesday, September 4 throughout the network’s Business Day programming.
For more information on the survey including the full results, methodology and in-depth articles, go to CNBC’s digital hub, cnbc.com/your-money/ and https://www.surveymonkey.com/curiosity/cnbc-retirement-2024/?utm_source=cnbc_2024.
Sharon Epperson’s story about the results can also be found here: https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/04/44percent-of-workers-are-cautiously-optimistic-about-retirement-cnbc-poll.html.
CNBC Your Money Retirement Survey is part of CNBC’s financial education initiative, CNBC Your Money, which is dedicated to helping people manage, grow and protect their money so they can live ambitiously. The initiative, which is an extension of the CNBC Your Money editorial brand, further amplifies the organization’s content, helps to meet the needs of a core but underserved audience segment. Through access and advocacy, the initiative educates people about their personal finances across every life stage from school age to retirement.
Methodology:
The CNBC|SurveyMonkey study was conducted August 2-14, 2024 among a sample of 6,657 adults, including 2,603 retired adults and 4,054 adult workers (those who work full or part time, or are self-employed or own their own business) in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 1.5 percentage points for workers, and 2.0 percentage points for retirees. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States.
About SurveyMonkey
SurveyMonkey is a global leader in online surveys and forms that empowers people with the insights they need to make decisions with speed and confidence. Our fast, intuitive feedback management platform connects millions of users worldwide with real-time AI-powered insights that drive meaningful decisions. We provide answers to more than 20 million questions every day so that people and organizations can attract new audiences, delight customers, create advocates, and extend their competitive advantage in the marketplace. Our vision is to raise the bar for human experiences by amplifying individual voices. Learn more at surveymonkey.com.
About CNBC
CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news, providing real-time financial market coverage and business content consumed by more than half a billion people per month across all platforms. The network’s 14 live hours a day of news programming in North America (weekdays from 5:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of reality programming, CNBC’s highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.
CNBC also offers content through its vast portfolio of digital products such as: CNBC.com, which provides financial market news and information to CNBC’s investor audience; CNBC Make It, a digital destination focused on making you smarter about how you earn, save and spend your money; CNBC PRO, a premium service that provides in-depth access to Wall Street; a suite of CNBC mobile apps for iOS and Android devices; Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple Siri voice interfaces; and streaming services including Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Samsung Smart TVs. To learn more, visit https://www.cnbc.com/digital-products/.
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