Americans fear running out of money more than death

MINNEAPOLIS – April 22, 2025  – Nearly two in three Americans (64%) worry more about running out of money than death, according to the 2025 Annual Retirement Study from the Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement, part of Allianz Life.

Many factors and economic pressures contribute to this fear of running out of money. The most respondents cited high inflation (54%), Social Security not providing as much financial support as they need (43%), and high taxes (43%). Boomers (61%) were more likely than millennials (56%) or Gen Xers (55%) to say high inflation contributed to their fear of running out of money.

Americans worry about running out of money across generations. But this fear is more prominent among Gen Xers (70%) who are in their 40s and 50s and fast approaching retirement and millennials (66%) than boomers (61%) who are over 60 and many have already retired.

“With Americans living longer in retirement and facing risks like market volatility, creating a financial strategy so that your money lasts your lifetime is a daunting task,” says Kelly LaVigne, VP of consumer insights, Allianz Life. “A strong retirement strategy will go beyond a dollar amount in the bank – it will also address how you will create a reliable income stream from your assets. A financial professional can design a strategy to help ease your worries about running out of money.”

Few Americans have addressed this fear with their financial professional. Just 23% say they have talked to their financial professional about their concern that they will run out of money. This is down from 28% in 2024. Asian/Asian American respondents (34%) were more likely to have discussed this fear than white (22%), Black/African American (28%), and Hispanic (25%) respondents. Americans ranked increasing retirement saving (44%), reducing current spending to save more (41%), and work longer to retire later (39%) in the top three as the most helpful solutions to address this fear.

Even with this fear, most Americans (62%) say they are not saving as much for retirement as they would like. The struggle to prioritize retirement savings shows how difficult and complex achieving long-term financial security can be. The most common factor keeping Americans from saving for retirement is expenses for day-to-day necessities taking priority (63%). This was followed by credit card debt (40%) and housing debt from a mortgage or rent (35%).

 

* Allianz Center for the Future of Retirement conducted an online survey, the 2025 Annual Retirement Study in January/February 2025 with a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Respondents age  25+ in the contiguous U.S. with an annual household income of $50k+ (single) / $75k+ (married/partnered) OR investable assets of $150k+.