Nearly half of all Americans expect to retire in debt, survey finds

A study found that almost half of Americans see themselves entering retirement with debt.

Magnify Money commissioned a survey in September, where they asked questions about people’s retirement plans. The study divided the respondents into four generations: Baby Boomers, Gen Y, Millennials, and Gen X. The silent generation (76 and older) and generation alpha (11 and younger) did not constitute enough responses to find a trend.

The survey found that 46% expect to retire with debt; however, 54% have zero plans to begin working with a retirement specialist. 30% of Millennials and Gen Z (15% being men and 21% women) said they wanted to retire before turning 50.

Almost half (43%) are worried that Social Security will run out and 22% are worried about losing their savings in a stock market crash. Forty-eight percent believe they can retire with under $1 million saved. Thirty-one percent don’t want to do any kind of work after retiring. 

Most respondents want to retire in the states, with 13% saying they would rather go abroad. The highest percentage of people said they wanted to retire in Florida, which was followed by California and Texas. The states ranked fourth through tenth, in order were New York, Hawaii and Colorado (tied), North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Georgia of the people hoping to retire outside the US, seven percent said they wanted to be in Costa Rica.