---
title: "More Americans Worried about Having Enough for Retirement"
description: "The number of Americans who are worried they will not have enough income and assets for retirement is up 13 percentage points since 2009."
date: "2013-01-30"
authors:
  - name: "Pew Research Center"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/01/30/more-americans-worried-about-having-enough-for-retirement/"
categories:
  - "Retirement"
---

# More Americans Worried about Having Enough for Retirement

![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2012/10/socialtrends-2012-10-22-retirement-01.png)

Despite a slowly improving economy and a multi-year stock market rebound, Americans are more worried about their retirement finances than they were at the end of the Great Recession in 2009.

About four-in-ten adults (38%) say they are “not too” or “not at all” confident that they will have enough income and assets for their retirement, according to a 2012 survey. That’s up 13 percentage points from the 25% who expressed that concern in a Pew Research survey in early 2009.

An analysis of these surveys also shows that concerns about retirement financing are now more heavily concentrated among younger and middle-aged adults than among those closer to retirement age -- a major shift in the pattern that had prevailed at the end of the recession.

In 2009 it was “Gloomy Boomers” in their mid-50s who were the most worried that they would outlive their retirement nest eggs. In the more recent survey, retirement worries peak among adults in their late 30s – many of whom are the older sons and daughters of the Baby Boom generation.

The 2012 survey finds that among adults between the ages of 36 and 40, 53% say they are either “not too” or “not at all” confident that their income and assets will last through retirement. In contrast, only about a third (34%) of those ages 60 to 64 express similar concerns, as do a somewhat smaller share (27%) of those 18 to 22 years old. [Read more](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2012/10/22/more-americans-worry-about-financing-retirement/)