Summary
Faced with inflation, taxes and concerns over the size of Social Security benefits, most Americans are more afraid of going broke in retirement than they are of death.
In total, 64% of respondents across generations said they are more stressed about running out of funds in their golden years than the prospect of death.
Americans say they need $1.26 million to finance a comfortable retirement, yet the median amount saved is $87,000. “Certainly for boomers…inflation is a big deal.”
I had a grandparent commit suicide due to being broke.
They were in relatively good health and had family nearby that could take care of them. However, it meant living at a lower quality of life, including withdrawing from some organizations because they couldn’t pay their dues any more. Their partner had also passed a few years prior, so it wasn’t like they were living for their spouse.
They probably could have lived for several years if they chose to and had the resources to do so. However, they chose that the reduction in quality of life wasn’t with it.