Senior Citizens Worried About Inflation

While most people are worried about inflation pushing up the cost of everyday items, one group in particular has a lot to lose as prices continue to rise. Senior citizens, those living on a fixed income and people who are on the verge of retirement will be impacted by inflation in greater numbers than people still in the work force. 

According to a recent survey from reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group (AAG), roughly 1 in 3 U.S. homeowners aged 60 to 75 were worried about inflation, and a shocking 1 in 3 feared they might outlive their retirement money.

Seniors living under new financial pressure

The survey highlighted a variety of fears that seniors live when it comes to their finances as well as how the recent jump in inflation could impact their retirement. Here are a few highlights of the survey:

• 66% of respondents are worried that inflation will negatively impact their retirement
• 37% felt they would need to increase their cash flow in order to live comfortably
• 29% believed they will outlive their money

While none of that is great news, on a more positive note, most seniors who responded to the survey still had confidence that their retirement plan would work out. In fact, only 28% said that their retirement plan wasn’t working out as planned. A mere 19 percent said that COVID-19 had impacted their retirement planning. However, roughly 30 percent of respondents over the age of 65 who were still working felt that the pandemic would end up delaying their retirement. 

When it comes to being prepared, the results were mixed with many seniors feeling they were prepared for retirement while others found their money was not lasting as long as they had assumed it would. A few of the survey results:

• 53% said the cost of living in retirement was higher than they had expected
• 36% reported having less money than they thought they would have
• 37% said their past employers failed to help them “achieve the retirement they wanted.”

Senior women struggling

According to the survey, divorced or widowed senior women had some of the highest fear levels and difficulties with their retirement. Here are a few of the survey findings:

• 72% of older widows and divorcees are worried about inflation, this compares to 66% overall
• 61% said retirement was more expensive than they had anticipated 
• 37% of respondents felt they needed more income to make ends meet