Boomers, Beware: $9K a Year in Retirement Savings May Not Be Enough Anymore
Written by
Andrew Lisa
Edited by
Rebekah Evans
Commitment to Our Readers
GOBankingRates' editorial team is committed to bringing you unbiased reviews and information. We use data-driven methodologies to evaluate financial products and services - our reviews and ratings are not influenced by advertisers. You can read more about our editorial guidelines and our products and services review methodology.
20 Years
Helping You Live Richer
Reviewed
by Experts
Trusted by
Millions of Readers
When it comes to having enough money saved for retirement, the Fidelity 2026 State of Retirement Planning study offered reasons for optimism. Nearly three out of four respondents — 72% — expect to retire on their own terms, up five percentage points from 2025.
However, it wasn’t all roses. While it’s good news that Americans are contributing an average of $9,000 to their retirement funds per year (per Fidelity), boomers shouldn’t rest easy if they maintained the average or even contributed more.
Boomers are less likely than millennials and Gen Zers to be confident that they can retire how and when they want — and for good reason. Here’s why $9,000 a year in retirement savings may not be enough anymore.
Â
Â
Confidence Wanes as Retirement Age Draws Near
The optimism of youth and the wisdom of age were on display in the Fidelity study, which found that 75% and 78% of Gen Z and millennials, respectively, were confident in their ability to retire on their own terms.
By comparison, just 63% of Gen X and 68% of boomers expressed such optimism.
Â
Inflationary Pressure Doesn’t Discriminate by Age
Boomers joined all age groups in citing rising prices as the single biggest obstacle to saving money. Exactly 50% of both the oldest generation and Gen Z, the youngest, cited rising living costs as the biggest impediment to banking money, along with 49% of millennials and 56% of Gen X.
Economic reports can be misleadingly encouraging because a decrease in the inflation rate does not mean that daily life is getting cheaper.
The nonprofit, nonpartisan government data aggregator USAFacts noted that while inflation has fallen from a 40-year high of over 9% in 2022 to less than 2.5% in 2026, prices haven’t dropped by 6.5 percentage points in that time. They’ve just risen 6.5 percentage points more slowly, which means that year’s peak prices were largely locked in as the new floor and have been rising ever since.
Rising Prices Are Harder for Boomers To Avoid
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ most recent Consumer Price Index (CPI) report showed the general inflation rate is 2.4%, but seniors typically experience faster cost-of-living increases. The CPI-E index weights the CPI differently to more accurately reflect the expenses that disproportionately impact individuals ages 62 — the youngest boomers — and older, namely housing, healthcare, apparel, transportation and food.
It consistently showed that prices tend to rise faster for seniors than general inflation, so if boomers are struggling despite socking away $9,000 per year or more, it’s because $9,000 buys less for them than it does for younger generations, who will eventually get the same retirement reality check.
More From GOBankingRates
