Retirement Insecurity 2019: Americans’ Views of the Retirement Crisis

New public opinion research finds that Americans are united in their concern about retirement. In overwhelming numbers, Americans say the nation faces a retirement crisis, with Democrats at 80 percent, Republicans at 75 percent, and Independents at 75 percent.

These findings are contained in a new research, Retirement Insecurity 2019: Americans’ Views of the Retirement Crisis, published by the National Institute on Retirement and based on research conducted by Greenwald & Associates.

The key research findings are as follows:

1. In overwhelming numbers, Americans are worried about their ability to attain and sustain financial security in retirement.
2. Even as the nation remains deeply politically polarized, Americans are united in their sentiment about retirement issues.
3. Americans see government playing an important role in helping workers prepare for retirement, but lawmakers in Washington, D.C. just don’t get it. And the new tax law has not helped.
4. In contrast to the sentiment about Washington, D.C., efforts by state lawmakers to expand access to retirement accounts for all workers is widely supported by Americans.
5. Americans are highly positive on the role of pensions in providing retirement security and see these retirement plans as better than 401(k) plans.
6. There is strong support for pension plans for state and local workers, and Americans see these retirement plans as a tool to recruit and retain public workers.
7. Millennials are the most concerned about financial security in retirement, and are more willing than other generations to save more.