A bleak picture for retirement in the future?

This is from a survey of only 240 people from WalletHub August 2026, but still, the results are not optimistic.

For example, 43% of those surveyed believe it is not realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably. “Not realistic?” How do HD readers feel about that?

• Pension preference: 7 in 10 people believe a pension is better than a 401(k). Understandable, but for most workers this is not practical because you need to be a participant in a pension plan (generally one employer) for decades to generate a significant retirement income and the average tenure with one employer is only 4-6 years +-
• Americans worry about retirement: More than 1 in 3 Americans are not confident that they will have enough money to retire.
• Benefit trade-off: More than half of Americans say they would prefer to pay a 12.4% Social Security tax to get double the benefits rather than a 6.2% tax and current benefits. The thing is, that won’t work. Even doubling the entire current 12.4% rate (to 24.8%) would still leave a large gap relative to doubling costs.
• Retirement doubt: 43% of people believe it is not realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably. I guess the key word is comfortably and how defined.
• Many people may never retire: 40% of people say they expect to work until they die.
• Debt takes precedence: More than 2 in 5 Americans think paying off debt is more important than making retirement contributions. I wonder.

Note: Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.

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