Most retirees worry about savings — but few use financial advisers

Nearly 7 in 10 retirees are concerned about managing their savings so they don’t run out of money, yet a similar share aren’t working with a financial adviser.

Sixty-nine percent of respondents in the Schroders 2026 U.S. Retirement Survey said they’re at least slightly concerned about not knowing how to best take retirement income and/or draw down assets; 68% said they’re at least slightly concerned about outliving their assets.

Virtually the same percentage (68%) reported not currently working with a financial adviser.

“What often gets overlooked is that investing for retirement and investing in retirement are fundamentally different challenges,” Deb Boyden, head of U.S. Defined Contribution at global investment management company Schroders, said in a news release. “Once you retire, protecting against losses is just as important as capturing gains. With lifespans extending well into the 80s and beyond, your savings may need to work for you for three or four decades.”

Boyden added that retirees have “a fixed pool of assets and no second chances.” However, CPA financial advisers can provide a strategic safety net.

“Because CPAs have a unique vantage point when it comes to financial planning, they possess the drive to help the community at large not only grasp what to do, but why it matters,” Cary Sinnett, senior manager–AICPA Personal Financial Planning, said in an April news release highlighting National Financial Literacy Month. “When people understand the ‘why’ behind their decisions, they are far more likely to act with confidence and purpose.”

Sinnett’s comment came in conjunction with an AICPA resource that tackled questions like, “Do I have enough money to retire and will it last?”

Last year at ENGAGE, retirement researcher David Blanchett called longevity risk the No. 1 risk in retirement and shared a plan for creating more of what he called “lifetime income” — income that is guaranteed for life in retirement.

Even though nearly 70% of retirees surveyed by Schroders were concerned about managing their money in retirement and possibly running out, more than three in four described their current financial situation as either “comfortable” (37%), “not great but not bad” (35%), or “living the dream” (4%).

However, 49% reported that expenses in retirement have been higher than they expected, and 58% said they didn’t know how long their savings would last.

Sixty-four percent said they wish they had done more planning prior to retirement.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.