Why People Stop Planning for Retirement: 64% Feel Confident, But 36% Don't
Confluent Asset Management
Retirement Planning Team
Retirement planning is supposed to give you confidence about the future.
But for many people, the opposite happens.
They start calculating how much they need to save. They look at their investment accounts. They think about inflation, taxes, health care, Social Security, and the possibility of living 20 or 30 years in retirement.
And eventually, it can all start to feel overwhelming.
So they stop.
They stop checking their progress. They stop adjusting their strategy. They stop asking whether they are actually on track.
And perhaps most importantly, they stop planning for the retirement they originally envisioned.
According to the 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, only 64% of Americans say they feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout retirement.
That means 36% (more than 1 in 3 Americans) don’t feel confident.
That statistic is more than a number. It represents millions of people who may be working, saving, and investing without knowing whether their efforts will ultimately be enough.
Why people stop planning for retirement is an important question.
The answer isn’t always that they don’t care.
Often, people stop planning because the process becomes emotionally exhausting, financially confusing, or discouraging.
Here are three of the most common reasons people give up on retirement planning—and what you can do if you recognize yourself in one of them.
1. Retirement Planning Starts to Feel Too Complicated
One of the biggest reasons people stop planning for retirement is simple: they don’t know where to start—or what to do next.
Retirement planning isn’t just about putting money into a 401(k).
You may need to consider:
- How much income you’ll need in retirement
- When you want to stop working
- How much you should save each year
- How your investments should be allocated
- How much investment risk you should take
- When to claim Social Security
- How taxes could affect your retirement income
- How you’ll pay for health care
- Whether you’ll need long-term care
- How inflation could affect your purchasing power
- How to turn your savings into sustainable income
That’s a lot of moving parts.
And the numbers show that many Americans don’t feel particularly confident managing their investments. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2024 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households, just 45% of adults said they were mostly or very comfortable choosing and managing their investments.
That means 55% were not comfortable or only slightly comfortable making those decisions.
It’s easy to see how that uncertainty can turn into avoidance.
You might think:
“I’ll figure it out later.”
“I’ll increase my contributions next year.”
“The market will probably take care of it.”
“I have a long time before retirement.”
But retirement planning doesn’t become easier by ignoring it.
In fact, the longer you wait to understand where you stand, the harder it can feel to make meaningful changes.
2. The Numbers Don't Look Like They Should
Another major reason people stop planning for retirement is that they look at their savings and feel discouraged.
Maybe you’ve been saving for years, but your account balance doesn’t seem to be growing fast enough.
Maybe the market dropped.
Maybe inflation increased your expenses.
Maybe you had to pause contributions to pay for a house, college, or other major expenses.
Or maybe you ran the numbers and realized that retiring at your desired age may require more than you expected.
When the numbers don’t match the dream, it’s tempting to stop looking at the numbers altogether. But avoidance doesn’t eliminate the gap. It simply makes the gap harder to address.
The Federal Reserve’s report found that just 35% of non-retirees believed their retirement savings plan was on track.
That means nearly two-thirds did not believe they were currently on track. That’s a significant confidence problem. And it helps explain why some people eventually disengage from retirement planning altogether.
The problem is that retirement planning isn’t an exam you either pass or fail. If your current plan isn’t on track, that is valuable information. It tells you that something may need to change.
You might be able to:
- Save more
- Adjust your retirement date
- Reconsider your investment strategy
- Reduce future expenses
- Increase your expected retirement income
- Coordinate Social Security differently
- Make more tax-efficient decisions
- Build a more intentional retirement income strategy
The earlier you identify a potential shortfall, the more options you typically have.
The hidden danger of "I'll just work longer"
One common response to a retirement shortfall is to assume you’ll simply work longer. Sometimes that may be the right decision. But it shouldn’t be the only plan.
The Federal Reserve’s data found that 26% of retirees said health problems played a role in when they retired,
while 15% said caring for family members was a factor.
In total, health problems, family caregiving, and lack of work contributed to retirement timing for 42% of retirees.
In other words, retirement doesn’t always happen exactly when you expect it to. That makes it especially important to understand what your financial picture looks like before you need to make a decision. The goal isn’t to predict the future perfectly.
The goal is to build a plan that gives you options when the future doesn’t go exactly as expected.
3. Retirement Feels So Far Away That It's Easy to Put It Off
The third reason people stop planning for retirement is perhaps the most understandable: Retirement feels far away.
When you’re focused on your career, mortgage, children, college expenses, vacations, and everyday bills, retirement can feel like a problem for another version of yourself. But time is one of the most valuable assets you have when planning for retirement.
The challenge is that retirement planning often becomes more complicated, not less, as retirement gets closer. Your focus eventually shifts from:
“How much should I save?” to “How do I turn this money into income?”
Then come questions about taxes, Social Security, health care, investment risk, estate planning, and protecting your savings. Health care alone can represent a significant retirement expense.
Fidelity’s 2026 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate projects that a 65-year-old retiring in 2026 could spend an average of $185,500 on health care and medical expenses throughout retirement, assuming Original Medicare Parts A and B and Part D. The estimate does not include long-term care costs.
That figure is up 7.5% from the previous year.
Even more concerning, Fidelity reported that 54% of pre-retirees incorrectly believe Medicare will cover all of their health care expenses.
This is a perfect example of why retirement planning can’t simply be about reaching a savings number. You can have a substantial retirement account balance and still face unexpected challenges if you haven’t thought through how your money will work once your paycheck stops.
The longer you wait to address these issues, the fewer opportunities you may have to make adjustments.
The solution: Replace "retirement someday" with a specific plan
Instead of thinking:
“I need to plan for retirement someday.”
Try asking:
“What would it take for me to retire at the age I actually want?”
That question changes everything.
It creates a target.
And once you have a target, you can measure your progress.
A clear retirement plan should help you understand:
- Your target retirement age
- Your projected retirement income
- Your expected expenses
- Your savings and investment trajectory
- Potential income gaps
- The impact of taxes and inflation
- Health care considerations
- The risks that could derail your timeline
You don’t have to know exactly what the next 20 years will look like.
You simply need a process for checking whether you’re still moving in the right direction.
Don't Give Up on Your Retirement Plan. Check Your Progress
If you’ve been putting off retirement planning because you’re worried you aren’t where you should be, don’t assume the answer is to give up. Start by finding out where you actually stand.
A retirement plan should answer a simple question: Are the decisions you’re making today moving you closer to the retirement you want?
At Confluent Asset Management, we help individuals and couples look at the bigger picture, from investments and retirement income to taxes, risk, and long-term goals.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.
You just need to take the next step.
The Real Reason People Stop Planning for Retirement
When you look at the data, a common pattern emerges. People don’t necessarily stop planning because they don’t care about retirement. They often stop because they don’t feel confident that their actions are making a difference.
The numbers feel complicated. The goal feels too far away. The projected shortfall feels discouraging. And eventually, it can seem easier to stop looking.
But the most dangerous thing you can do with a retirement plan isn’t discovering that you’re behind. It’s never checking.
A plan that shows a gap gives you something you can work with.
You can change your savings rate.
You can adjust your investment strategy.
You can reconsider your timeline.
You can explore different sources of retirement income.
You can identify risks before they become problems.
The key is knowing where you stand.
What If You're Closer Than You Think?
It’s easy to focus on what could go wrong. But retirement planning can also reveal opportunities you may not have considered.
Maybe you’re saving enough.
Maybe you’re closer to your target retirement age than you realized.
Maybe a few strategic changes could significantly improve your trajectory.
Or maybe there is a gap
But identifying it now gives you time to do something about it. That’s why reviewing your retirement plan isn’t about finding reasons to worry. It’s about replacing uncertainty with information.
The 2026 Retirement Confidence Survey found that 64% of Americans feel confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement, but 36% don’t.
Which side of that statistic do you want to be on? The answer shouldn’t be based on a guess. It should be based on a plan. And that plan should be reviewed regularly.
Find Out If You're on Track for the Retirement You Want
If you’re working hard, saving consistently, and investing for your future, you deserve to know whether your efforts are actually adding up to the retirement you envision.
Don’t wait until you’re five years from retirement to find out. Take a fresh look at your numbers today.
Review your retirement timeline. Evaluate your savings. Examine your investment strategy. Identify potential gaps.
The goal isn’t to create a perfect prediction of the future. It’s to create a clear strategy for moving toward it. A retirement plan should answer a simple question: Are the decisions you’re making today moving you closer to the retirement you want?
At Confluent Asset Management, we help individuals and couples look at the bigger picture, from investments and retirement income to taxes, risk, and long-term goals.
You don’t need to have everything figured out before you start.
You just need to take the next step.
Because the answer to why people stop planning for retirement is often uncertainty.
The solution is clarity.
And sometimes, the most important step in retirement planning is simply deciding to start looking at the plan again.
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