Retirement Savings Gap Statistics and Financial Health (2026)

Introduction

Retirement Savings Gap Statistics: Picture yourself retiring at the age of 65 with wonderful thoughts of travelling. You are spending lovely moments with your family and enjoying financial independence. However, you find out that your retirement savings are going to last only a few years. In 2025, simply saving money for retirement has become a major global financial debate. This debate is altering the economic prospects of people, families, and even countries.

No matter how much the economy has grown, how much the stock markets have gone up, and how many financial products have been invented, a large chunk of people are still far away from having enough savings to retire comfortably. The gap, that is, the difference between what people think they need and what they have actually saved, has widened significantly.

This paper will present the newest Retirement Savings Gap statistics, main drivers, and the possible future of retirement security worldwide.

Editor’s Choice

The global retirement savings gap has reached a new high of approximately US$ 70 trillion across eight major economies and is projected to rise to US$400 trillion by 2050 if current saving habits are maintained.
Nearly one-fourth of working adults in the U.S. have no retirement savings or pensions, indicating the extent of the problem.
Retirement savings in cash and fixed deposits are the most common option in that area, with 41% considering them the best product, indicating a strong preference for safety over growth.
58% of the American population is not adequately prepared, which is the primary reason they will not be able to maintain their current standard of living in retirement.
Among the generations, Baby Boomers will suffer the most from the retirement shortfall, with an average of US$9,000 per year, which constitutes almost one-fourth of their projected expenses.
The low level of preparedness has not eroded workers’ confidence; 67% still believe they will be able to retire in style, thereby widening the expectations gap.

Global Retirement Saving Gap

Retirement savings gap increasing globally

(Source: infosys.com)

The retirement savings gap denotes the increasing deficit that lies between the current savings and the future necessary amount for a comfortable life during retirement.
The workers in the world’s eight largest economies are so far behind in their retirement savings that the World Economic Forum has already set the retirement savings gap at around US$70 trillion.
The problem is likely to escalate over time; projections indicate that the gap could reach up to US$400 trillion by 2050 if current saving behaviours are not altered.
In the US, the retirement savings gap is even more striking. According to a survey conducted by the Federal Reserve, about 25% of working adults do not have any retirement-related savings or pensions.
Workers are aware of the importance of saving, but still confess they are not saving enough.
Daily financial exigencies block the way to setting long-term goals, as people usually find the profits from their salaries too small to meet all their immediate obligations, such as rent, medical care, and debt repayment, particularly when these obligations are rising.
So, it often happens that retirement saving is delayed or ignored, considered less critical than short-term financial survival, which in turn increases the long-term savings deficit.

Importance of Financial Products In Retirement Planning

(Reference: coinlaw.io)

The results indicate that individuals predominantly favour secure and well-known investment options when making retirement arrangements.
Cash and fixed deposits are clearly leading the way as not just the most common choice, but also the second most common, with 41% and 25% of those surveyed, respectively, stating that they are the most and the second most important retirement products.
There is thus a pronounced demand for such products that are safe, liquid, and that pay a guaranteed return, which is the main factor why inflation may erode or even destroy their real value in the long run.
In addition to that, real estate is also heavily involved in the retirement planning process.
Over 25% of people consider property to be their most significant source of income during retirement, while 26% position it as their second most important option.
It has thus been pointed out that the property not only provides the opportunity for income through renting, but also has the potential to appreciate in the long run, which, in turn, provides the retiree with the financial security of living in their own house.
For 20% of the respondents, pensions are the primary retirement product, and 18% the second in importance.
This speaks of the increasing understanding that there exist such products which are structured and long-term in nature as retirement vehicles, even though, still, cash and property overshadow pensions in the hierarchy of importance.
Only 7% of the respondents consider funds as the optimal option amongst others, yet 16% perceive them as the second best, which means that there is a moderate interest in the products that are highly diversified.
Stocks are ranked even lower: only 3% people say that shares are the most important, whereas 6% consider shares to be of second importance.
This can be inferred that there is a cautious approach towards the risk of stock market fluctuations and volatility.
Annuities and bonds are also listed among the least preferred alternatives: they each receive a top ranking from only 3% of survey participants, while a small portion designates them as the second most important.

Retirement Readiness Rates

The statistics bring out a huge gap between the actual retirement preparedness of Americans and their feeling of confidence.
The research of Vanguard has found that 58% of Americans’ retirement savings are not sufficient to provide them with the same level of living as before retirement, thus, it is under-saving in a vast area.
The Boomer generation is the one suffering the most, with an average yearly gap of about US$9,000, which is almost 25% of their likely retirement expenses.
Notwithstanding this situation, the trust remains at a high level: 67% of employees are convinced that they will live in comfort if they retire, which implies an inconsistency between the anticipated and financial readiness.
Employees with defined contribution plans are nearly double as likely to save the required amount when compared to those who do not have such plans (54% compared to 28%).
Not only this, but the workers also have a lot of faith in the company’s retirement plans, as 55% of them stated that they would put their retirement funds in their employer’s plan if it offered guaranteed income options.
It is interesting to note that while 78% of people who have retired say they are confident about living comfortably during retirement, one-third of the current workers have already changed their plans, opting for later retirement as a result of market fluctuations.
Almost half of the Gen Z workers are expected to maintain their living standards, yet concerns are still dominant, as 70% of employees express their worry about having to reduce their expenditures due to inflation, housing prices, and the uncertainty of the markets.

Retirement risks for low-income workers are much higher, and the main reason for that is the lack of retirement plans, plus their inability to save money sufficiently.
A whopping 78.7% of full-time employees who earn the least, in the lowest decile, do not have access to a retirement plan offered by an employer, which significantly limits their savings potential.
Furthermore, the situation is exacerbated by the fact that these households do not have emergency savings at all.
Nearly a third of low-income households can barely live for three months without the income, and the same number of households without the rainy-day fund are totally unable to meet their basic expenses by any means during a financial crisis.
Similarly, workers in small companies are not likely to be offered retirement benefits at all, which is an even wider gap when compared to those in big firms.
In addition, low-income access disparities are more significant along racial lines; for instance, almost 64% of Latino workers and 53% of Black workers do not have access to employer-sponsored retirement savings.
Economic insecurity caused by old age very often translates into workers not retiring and, in some cases, even becoming very old before the retirement age is reached.

Employer Plan Access Gaps

(Reference: coinlaw.io)

Access to employer-sponsored retirement plans for employees is not equally distributed.
A staggering 42% of full-time private-sector workers, ranging in age from 18 to 65, do not have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan, and part-time workers have an even worse situation, since 79% of them are not allowed to participate in any retirement plan at all.
The income level is a decisive factor; for instance, almost 78.7% of full-time workers receiving less than US$27,400 are going to be left without any retirement plan, and likewise, 65.2% of the lowest-paid workers will lack access, whereas only 25% among the top-paid will be affected.
The situation is such that almost 44.1% of the full-time workforce does not take advantage of the retirement plans their employers are offering. This is mainly due to their worries about not being able to afford the plans.
Apart from that, the firms’ contributions are limited as well, with 50.5% of the full-time workforce getting no company match, while a whopping 82.1% of the lowest-income workers do not have any matching contributions coming from their employers at all.
Participation of part-time workers remains extremely low, with 79% of them not taking part in any plan.
Thus, the existence of large businesses, which in this case refers to those with 1–99 employees, is a retirement access factor and long-term financial security determinant because they provide retirement benefits to only 61% of their respective employee base.

Conclusion

Retirement Savings Gap Statistics: The retirement savings gap has emerged as one of the most important financial issues of 2025. Its main causes are not saving enough, lack of access to retirement plans, and high living costs. Although workers have a huge faith in their capabilities, the numbers show that most of them are not financially strong enough to maintain their living standards in retirement. The reliance on conservative investments, poor participation in employer-sponsored plans, and the prevalent impact of disparities among low-income and minority workers are all reasons that keep widening the gap.

If there are no significant changes in saving habits, plan availability, and long-term investment strategies, millions of people will either have to retire later or will be financially insecure. This situation will also make retirement readiness a major concern for individuals as well as for employers and policymakers.