Older Americans Feeling Financial Strain as Costs Rise, New AARP Report Finds

WASHINGTON ─ New AARP research shows a growing number of Americans age 50 and older are feeling financially squeezed. The 2026 Financial Security Trends Survey, released today, finds that 37% of older adults feel financially insecure, while 60% are worried about having enough money to last through retirement. Among those not yet retired, 42% have less than $50,000 in retirement savings.
 

These findings highlight how critical it is to protect Social Security today, especially as 61% of older Americans say the average Social Security monthly payment – around $2,000 per month – is not enough. Sixty-nine percent of older adults also say that prices are rising faster than their income.
 

“With prices rising for everyday essentials like groceries, housing, utilities and health care, current and future retirees are counting on Social Security now more than ever,” said Nancy LeaMond, Executive Vice President and Chief Advocacy & Engagement Officer at AARP. “The bottom line is that Social Security is the critical foundation of retirement security that Americans have earned through a lifetime of hard work, paying in with every paycheck. It must be strengthened and protected.”
 

Rising costs are a major driver of financial insecurity. Many older adults report higher monthly expenses for food, housing, transportation, and especially health care ─ 52% say their health care costs are higher now than they were 12 months ago.
 

“Rising costs are eating into household incomes across the board, and older Americans are feeling that gap acutely,” said Richard Johnson, Vice President of Financial Security at the AARP Public Policy Institute. “When nearly seven in ten say prices are rising faster than their income, that is not a story about individual financial decisions, it is a story about affordability that is touching households at every income level.” 
 

Additional findings from AARP’s Financial Security Trends Survey include:

• Among older adults with household incomes of $75,000 or more, 20% report feeling financially insecure, up from 15% in 2022.
• Older adults who feel financially insecure are 77% more likely than those who feel financially secure to have faced a financial shock in the past year, such as a large, unexpected expense or an unexpected loss in income. 
• Older adults who feel financially insecure are more than twice as likely to be carrying a credit card balance from month to month than those who feel financially secure. 

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About AARP
AARP is the nation's largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to the more than 125 million Americans 50-plus and their families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation's largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit www.aarp.org/about-aarp/, www.aarp.org/español or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspañol and @AARPadvocates on social media.
 

Media Contact: Emily Pickren, epickren@aarp.org