Retirement Realities: The Experience of Retirees

Retirement is a new chapter in life, bringing freedom, time, and opportunity to discover a different rhythm of life and purpose. At the same time, retirement also reveals the realities of living on a fixed income and managing health needs.

Retirees face financial fragility, especially being vulnerable to economic uncertainty, inflation, rising health care costs, and financial market volatility—all factors that can easily erode their buying power on limited income. Many are concerned about their health in older age and their ability to afford long-term care, yet many also have not solidified plans for when they may need caregiving support.

Retirement Realities: The Experience of Retirees spotlights aging and longevity-related challenges of today’s retirees. Their real-life experiences, navigating health and finances and facing the need for caregiving and long-term care support, offer critical insights for strengthening retirement security for current and future generations of retirees.

The report is based on findings from the 25th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey conducted in 2024, including more than 2,600 U.S. residents who are retired and do not work.

Download the report Retirement Realities: The Experience of Retirees and read the press release Retirees Are Enjoying Life Amid Health and Financial Uncertainties.

Key findings:

• Life Changes in Retirement: Retirees indicate their standard of living has stayed the same since retiring (66%). Many experienced improvements to their enjoyment of life (44%) and happiness (41%) but also declines in their general health (33%) and financial situation (28%).
• Financial Realities: Retirees have saved $126,000 in total household savings excluding home equity (estimated median) as of late 2024 – and 12% have no savings. More than half (53%) rely on Social Security as their primary source of income throughout retirement.
• Long-Term Care Needs: Nearly half (47%) plan to rely on family and friends, including their spouse (30%), family members (26%), and friends (5%) for receiving long-term care.
• Reflections on Life: While most retirees feel they did as much as they could to prepare for retirement, 69% wish they would have saved more on a consistent basis and 65% wish they had been more knowledgeable about retirement saving and investing.

For additional findings and recommendations, download the full report and read the press release.

Methodology

The analysis contained in Retirement Realities: The Experience of Retirees was prepared internally by the research team at Transamerica Institute and TCRS. It is based on an online survey conducted within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of Transamerica Institute and TCRS between September 11 and October 17, 2024, among a nationally representative sample of 10,009 adults including 2,690 people who are retired.

Data was weighted where necessary for age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, household income, and smoking status. Respondents were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys.

The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval and the worker sample data is accurate to within ±1.2 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest. Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole percent.