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Key Takeaways
- According to the Retirement Confidence Survey published Thursday, a majority of workers or retirees are worried about changes in their Social Security and Medicare benefits.
- According to the survey, workers and retirees have similar concerns about Social Security and Medicare benefit reductions and tax increases for both programs.
- Most workers expect Social Security as a source of income in retirement. However, even more retirees say that this is the case.
According to a recent survey, Americans are concerned that the retirement system and Social Security could be changed.
According to a survey released by Greenwald Research and the Employee Benefit Research institute on Thursday, a majority of workers and retired people are at least somewhat concerned that changes could reduce their Social Security and Medicare benefits.
The survey found that about 80% and 70% of workers and retirees are concerned the U.S. Government will make significant reforms to the American retirement systems. Workers’ top concern (60%) is changes that will reduce Social Security retirement benefits. Retirees also ranked this as their top priority.
The top concerns of both workers and retirees were changes that would reduce Medicare and an increase in taxes on Social Security or Medicare. The survey was conducted between January and February before the recent turmoil in markets and trade policies.
Both retirees as well as workers expressed concern that Social Security would continue to provide benefits equal to those of today. According to the survey, half of workers surveyed lack confidence that Social Security and Medicare will continue to provide benefits similar to those today.
Nearly 90% of workers expect Social Security will be a major source of income in retirement. Almost all retirees also said the same. Nearly twice as many retirees say that Social Security is a major income source compared to workers who expect it to be.
Half of the workers surveyed expect to gradually retire. This means they will continue to work at least part-time until retirement. Nearly three-quarters of retirees who were surveyed said that they had retired completely. Three quarters of workers today say they will need to continue working for pay after retirement, but only 30% of retirees have worked for money since retiring.
Craig Copeland, EBRI's director of wealth benefits research, said the survey's data points to a disconnect between workers' expectations and retirees' experiences; workers expected to stay in the workforce longer than retirees actually did, and far fewer retirees kept working than expected to do so.
"Workers, in many cases, are planning for a retirement that is not likely to happen," Copeland said.
