What a poll of 9,000 adults reveals about aging in America
Financial well-being can have an outsize imprint on older Americans’ quality of life, affecting their physical health, social life and even cognitive skills, new research shows.
Lower-income seniors are more likely to experience mental confusion, spend less time pursuing hobbies, and face difficulties with everyday tasks such as climbing stairs and grocery shopping, compared with their more affluent counterparts, according to survey results released Thursday from Pew Research Center. And just 21% are highly confident of having enough money in retirement.
The research underscores how differently retirement can play out for people on opposite sides of the income scale, at a time when the youngest baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — are transitioning out of the workforce.
“Income is central to how Americans are experiencing and thinking about aging,” said Luona Lin, the lead author of Pew’s report.
Pew drew its findings from a survey of 8,750 adults conducted in September.
Here’s what it found:
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Higher incomes, better outcomes
Affluent retirees — defined as those with an adjusted family income greater than $155,600 — reported more positive outcomes across the board compared with middle-income ($51,900 to $155,600) and lower-income (less than $51,900) respondents.
More than 60% said they were aging extremely or very well. About 50% of middle-income seniors and 39% in the lower-income bracket said the same, according to the survey.
Affluent retirees were more likely to say their physical and mental health was very good or excellent. They’re also more likely to spend time socializing with friends or pursuing hobbies; have a will or living will; and work full-time — 18%, compared with 10 percent of middle-income seniors and 6% of those with lower-incomes.
And 72% of upper-income seniors say they were highly confident they had enough money to last in retirement. For those in the lower- and middle-income brackets, the numbers drop to 21% and 46%, respectively.
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Older adults are generally optimistic
Seniors tend to be optimistic about their lives, even in the face of financial uncertainty.
Across income levels, well over half of adults older than 64 said they have people they can turn to for support, and rated their mental health as excellent or very good. Most say they are rarely lonely, and those with adult children say they are generally in touch with them a few times a week.
In fact, older adults were generally more positive than younger Americans about their later years. While nearly half of adults 65-plus say they are aging extremely or very well, just 30% of those younger than 65 expect to do so.
Still, Lin said she was hesitant to paint “too rosy” a picture of older Americans. A “nontrivial share say that they feel lonely or isolated from others. They experience mental confusion, memory loss” and difficulty carrying out activities or handling their own affairs, she said.
Among younger adults, 67% of those who said they contemplate life in their 70s and beyond are worried about it. Top concerns included wellness and finances, including the future of Social Security — the trust fund for which is projected to run out of money within a decade. About 16% said they worried about family relationships, such as feeling lonely or becoming a burden.
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4 in 10 aren’t confident they have enough money
Just a quarter of adults polled are highly confident they have enough money to last in retirement. Women, Black and Hispanic adults, and those in their 30s and 40s were generally more likely to have concerns about their financial future.
Around half of adults ages 18 to 49 said they are not confident they will have the means to retire or said they doubted they could. By contrast, 30% of those in their 60s and 18% of adults in their 70s said the same.
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Americans want long lives, but not too long
About 3 in 4 Americans want to reach their 80th birthday, but less than 30% want to live to 100.
The typical American lives to around 78, according to 2023 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ideal age, on average, according to Pew’s research is 91.