With Household Costs Continuing to Compete with Retirement Savings, American Workers Seek Ways to Generate More Income and Desire Better Retirement Solutions

Financial security does not uniformly improve with income: workers defer financial milestones, supplement income from primary jobs. New solutions may help workers make their dollars saved work harder.

NEW YORK, September 30, 2026 – According to the 2026 Goldman Sachs Asset Management Retirement Survey & Insights Report, "The New Economics of Retirement, Making Every Dollar Saved Work Harder,” retirement savings momentum is falling as the share of respondents who increased their retirement savings fell 16% year-over-year to 39% and the share who reduced their savings increased to 14% (up from 8%).

As workers face challenges meeting daily expenses, nearly 70% have delayed a major financial goal. Across Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X, 66% expect to delay their retirement due to competing financial priorities. Only 58% of retirement savers say they are on track or ahead of schedule, down from 68% in 2025.

"For generations, the retirement security formula was straightforward: work consistently, save diligently, and security would follow," said Greg Wilson, Head of Retirement & Co-Head of Americas Third-Party Wealth, Goldman Sachs Asset Management. "While workers may look financially stable externally, underneath, they're working more, delaying major goals, and supplementing their income. The encouraging news is there are solutions that can help. With better planning, personalized advice, and stronger portfolio and income strategies, savers can make every dollar saved yield more." 

Household Costs Increasingly Compete with Retirement Saving

Retirement savings falls across generations with increasing costs a large factor

Across all generations, competing financial priorities, including daily expenses, took center stage pushing retirement savings off track. Year over year, Gen Z reported that their savings were on track or better fell from 75% to 66%; Millennials dropped from 74% to 61%; Gen X declined from 58% to 49%; and Boomers fell from 69% to 60%.

“Our survey reported the largest single-year decline in the percent of people who increased their retirement savings in six years potentially highlighting a momentum shift. Savers are taking less action, and the actions they are taking are more defensive in nature, suggesting that they may have concerns over persistent inflation and market volatility,” said Chris Ceder, Senior Retirement Strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Increasing costs also affect workers' ability to save, with common everyday costs topping the list: housing costs (31%), day-to-day living expenses (31%), and debt payments (27%).

Different financial pressures exist across generations. 

• Housing and debt payments dominate for younger generations: Gen Z (37%) and Millennials (36%) cite housing as the single greatest obstacle, almost double Boomers' concern (21%).
• Daily expenses affect older generations more: Gen X (37%) and Boomers (33%) responded that increasing everyday costs sit at the top of their list.
• Healthcare and medical expenses persist across generations: all generations cited this as a top obstacle, with Millennials (25%) reporting the highest share, followed by Gen Z (23%), Boomers (23%), and Gen X (20%).

While respondents report their primary employment is financially stable, some are supplementing their income through additional work.

While individuals say their job provides a stable path toward financial security, many are taking actions that signal that they are doing more to build long term financial security. Primary employment has long been seen as a path to long-term financial security: almost two-thirds of survey respondents (65%) say this is true. Yet 61% of workers across generations engage in additional work outside their primary job, with 71% of those engaging in additional work saying they are doing so out of financial need.

Across generations, 71% of Millennials describe their primary job as financially stable, followed by Gen Z (68%), Boomers (67%), and Gen X (57%). Notably, Gen Xers, those in the heart of their career and earning years, are the least likely to report that their job provides long-term financial security. Additionally, factoring in income shows greater strain: 40% of workers earning $50,000 or less feel their job provides financial security — 25 points below the overall average.

To help close this gap, an increasing number of workers take on additional work for financial needs versus the desire for more discretionary income. Eighty percent of Gen Z, 77% of Millennials, 57% of Gen X, and 37% of Boomers have engaged in additional work outside their primary job.

Workers are delaying financial milestones.

Seventy percent report they have delayed a major financial goal including a majority of Gen Z (83%), followed by 78% of Millennials and 65% of Gen X. Delayed financial goals include emergency savings, retirement savings, debt payoff, and home buying, with older generations less affected.

Many expect to need to delay their retirement, but many workers retire earlier than planned: 44% of retirement respondents retired earlier than planned, with 45% of those respondents retiring 1-3 years earlier, 26% 4-5 years earlier and 14% 6-10 years earlier. Many do so for reasons other than readiness: 22% for health reasons, 14% to take care of a family member and 12% because their job was no longer available. 

“Deferring these goals postpones stability and compounds the savings problem. Emergency savings is especially important as one unexpected expense can trigger debt and crowd out the savings that a household has already delayed,” said Ceder.

Financial Security Does Not Uniformly Improve with Income

Financial security of our respondents does not rise in a straight line with income. Those at the lower and upper end of earnings were more likely to report certain financial concerns. Both those earning under $100,000 (42%) and those earning above $300,000 (36%) report living paycheck to paycheck, versus 23% of those earning between $100,000 and $300,000. Both ends of the income spectrum also report delaying financial goals with 69% of those earning less than $100,000 and 76% of those earning above $300,000, as compared to 54% of those in the middle. 

Financial Strain May Affect the Workplace

Financial insecurity and worries extend to the workplace, as more than half of workers (54%) say financial concerns make it difficult for them to focus at work; 32% missed work in the past 12 months because of a financial challenge; and 34% say they are likely to look for a new job primarily to improve their financial situation.

This is particularly evident in younger generations: More than half of Gen Z employees (53%) and nearly half of millennials (47%) report missing work in the past 12 months because of a personal financial challenge. Similarly, 48% of Gen Z, 47% of Millennials and 32% of Gen X report considering a job change due to financial worries.

The top three concerns that workers report impacting work include worry about bills (34%), concerns about retirement readiness (24%) and stress about supporting family members (22%)

“Given the impact financial stress can have on work quality and productivity, employers have a unique opportunity and clear incentive to provide innovative support tools beyond traditional retirement plans. We are seeing our corporate partners that recognize the issue implement a range of solutions including comprehensive financial wellness/education programs, student loan and other debt management assistance, home buying benefits, lifestyle spending accounts, and employee purchase programs. The idea is to provide a more stable foundation where employees feel more financially secure, which ultimately leads to better job performance and more comfort in their ability to fund retirement savings,” said Jonathan A. Barber, Managing Director, Head of Compensation & Benefits Solutions Goldman Sachs Ayco.

Making Every Dollar Saved Work Harder for the Future

With retirement savings proving more difficult, strategies to make saved dollars work harder have evolved. These tools can help participants pursue greater security with the same or fewer dollars, shifting the focus to augmenting retirement savings.

Personalized planning and AI

Nearly two-thirds of survey respondents (64%) have a personalized retirement plan. Of those with one, 72% believe their savings are on track or better; this compares to 33% without a personalized plan. Those with a plan reported increased savings in the last 12 months (46%) at a higher level than those without one (26%). Active engagement is key: 91% of those with a plan engaged with retirement savings vs 62% of those without.

“This is one area where we need retirement plans to evolve. Everyone in a retirement plan should have a personalized plan for retirement. The impact between planners and non-planners is remarkably clear and should be an essential part of plan design,” said Ceder.

This is where AI can expand access to personalization resources. Fifty-one percent of respondents have used AI for retirement planning, with 94% citing awareness of AI as an available tool. AI was selected as one of three most important sources for education and advice, with 21% of working respondents citing AI as an important source of information in 2026 as compared with 14% in 2025. Workers most often use AI to learn retirement basics, create a savings plan, and estimate how much they may need to retire.

But human advice is still preferred for significant decisions, with 73% preferring humans for major life events, 69% for emotional reassurance, and 63% for tax-sensitive planning and retirement income decisions, respectively.

Enhanced investment portfolios and private market investments

Respondents are interested in enhancements to their workplace retirement plan to help boost return potential, increase diversification and offer wider investment opportunities. The top three enhancements include professionally managed investments with higher return potential, a personalized investment portfolio, and a broader range of asset classes.

Among those respondents familiar with private market investments, the top reasons they would be interested to consider them are for potentially higher long-term returns (42%), greater diversification (40%), and inflation protection (38%).

Retirement income: Guaranteed or balanced

Demand persists for retirement income solutions as workers confront longevity risk (the fear of outliving savings), a worry 59% of workers say they carry.

A majority of respondents (83%) said they wanted some guaranteed income as part of their income strategy. A blend of guaranteed income and flexible access was the most commonly selected preference among respondents: 51% want a mix of income and access to savings, while 32% want to optimize monthly income guaranteed for life, even if it means giving up direct control over savings and their ability to withdraw large lump sums. A minority, 16.7%, want to keep full control over savings, accepting that the guaranteed income will be lower.

"The path forward isn't just about saving more but about being strategic in making every dollar work harder," said Ceder. "Personalization is a powerful tool: savers with a personalized plan are more than twice as likely to feel on track. AI is quickly becoming part of that toolkit, and we're seeing real appetite for solutions that address one of savers' biggest fears: outliving their money."

About the Survey

Methodology and respondents

We evaluated survey responses from both working and retired Americans to understand the realities of preparing for and living in retirement. Our goal is to learn about the financial obstacles individuals need to overcome and the lessons they can apply in their retirement journey. Our Retirement Survey and Insights Report includes key findings that we hope will help plan advisors and plan sponsors better prepare their employees for retirement.

Our findings are from 5,106 individuals surveyed in July 2026 and provide insights from a diverse set of perspectives, including (i) working individuals (3,612 working individuals across generations), and (ii) retired individuals (1,494 retired individuals ages 45-75).

To better understand how people make retirement savings and advice decisions in the face of many competing priorities, we engaged behavioral economics firm, Escalent. Escalent helped develop key questions in our survey to analyze behavioral characteristics discussed in the report, as well as analyze individuals’ retirement income preferences.

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Goldman Sachs Asset Management is the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs, delivering investment and advisory services across public and private markets for the world's leading institutions, financial advisors, and individuals. The business is driven by a focus on partnership and shared success with its clients, seeking to deliver long-term investment performance drawing on its global network and deep expertise across industries and markets. Goldman Sachs Asset Management is a leading investor across fixed income, liquidity, equity, alternatives, and multi asset solutions. Goldman Sachs oversees approximately $4 trillion in assets under supervision as of June 30, 2026. Follow us on LinkedIn.