What do people fear about retirement?
What is there to fear about retirement? No more alarm clocks, no more commute, no more obligations on someone else's schedule. You have time to rest, wake up when you want, and spend your days as you choose. It sounds easy, and pretty wonderful... on the surface.
Retirement is often thought of as freedom from work. Yet many people genuinely enjoy their work, and may not want to fully separate from it. In a survey by the American Psychological Association, 87% working Americans strongly or somewhat agreed that the work they do is meaningful. This sense of meaningfulness is just one indicator of the benefits that work may provide for our general well-being. It may also provide structure, a sense of belonging, or a sense of identity.
So as retirement gets closer, new questions tend to surface. Will I really enjoy it? Will it feel fulfilling, or will I get bored? Who will I be when I'm no longer engaged in my career? These sit alongside the familiar questions about money and health: Will I have enough? Will I be able to do the things I want?
If you have some of these questions, you are in good company. A 2026 survey by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies found that only 12% of Americans say they have no retirement fears at all. So what are the rest of us worried about?
Financial fears: Will I have enough?
Many of the greatest retirement fears in Transamerica's 2026 report come down to money:
Social Security being reduced or ceasing to exist (38%)
Outliving savings and investments (36%)
The cost of long-term care (30%)
Not being able to meet the basic financial needs of their family (30%)
Lack of access to affordable health care (25%)
Lack of affordable housing (23%)
Among those not yet retired, 12% also fear being laid off and not being able to retire on their own terms.
These concerns speak to the value of active, intentional financial planning. A 2026 study on subjective financial well-being in retirement, published in the International Journal of Consumer Studies, found that the central question on retirees' minds was: Will I have enough?
Interestingly, how financially secure retirees felt varied a great deal, and it was not clearly tied to income. What did make a difference was working with a financial planner, which played a significant role in retirees' confidence and in how they felt about their finances. If money is your biggest worry, finding the right financial planner is worth making a priority.
Health fears: What will I be able to do?
Health concerns rank just as high. In fact, the single most common retirement fear in the Transamerica report was declining health that requires long-term care (39%). Others include:
Cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer's disease (32%)
Losing their independence (30%)
Concerns about long-term care are often both financial and emotional. Underneath them is a strong desire to stay independent for as long as possible, and not to have to rely on others. That value runs especially deep in American culture, where needing help can feel like a loss of worth because we tend to tie our value to being productive.
Some of what happens to our health is outside our control. But a good deal is within reach. Staying physically active, mentally engaged, and socially connected all support healthy aging. These are habits people can start building well before retirement and continue to be beneficial through retirement.
Your mindset matters, too. In a well-known Yale study, older adults with more positive views of aging lived 7.5 years longer, on average, than those with more negative views. So a positive attitude toward aging may be an important part of a longer, healthier life in retirement.
Social and emotional fears: How will I spend my days, and with whom?
The Transamerica report also points to fears that are less about money or health, and more about the shape of everyday life:
Feeling isolated and alone (26%)
Not finding meaningful ways to spend time and stay involved (20%)
These fears often get less attention, but they connect directly to the role work plays in our lives. Work can provide purpose, structure, daily contact with colleagues, and a sense of contribution. Retirement can remove all of these at once.
Many people arrive at retirement having planned carefully for their finances, assuming the rest will fall into place. They are often surprised by how big the adjustment feels, and they can feel alone in it.
The encouraging news is that work is not the only place to find connection, a sense of purpose, and other benefits that work provides. In fact, retirement can be an opportunity to expand social connection and take up new pursuits that reflect who we are. For some, this means giving back to others. For others, it means living more fully by their values in this chapter of life.
From fear to readiness
Having fears about retirement is not a sign that something is necessarily wrong. Our fears often point to what we value most: security, health, independence, connection, and meaning. They also prompt us to further consider these values and plan around them.
A few places to start:
Know you are not alone, and name your concerns. Many people share the same worries about retirement, and simply recognizing that can be important. You are not alone in your concerns, or struggles with retirement. Sometimes concerns show up less as clear thoughts and more as a physical feeling or general unease. Putting them into words helps us sort out what truly needs attention, and where to focus our preparation.
Prepare for life, not just the finances. Clarify your vision for retirement, and reflect on where structure, purpose, and connection will come from once work is no longer providing them. Above all, make retirement your own, rather than a patchwork of other people’s advice. This more holistic preparation supports a smoother adjustment.
Remember that not all fears come true. Fears are useful signals that we may want to pay attention or prepare more. But many people find their fears about retirement simply do not come to pass. Boredom is a good example. It’s one of the most common worries about retirement, yet research findings suggest the experience of boredom in retirement is less prevalent than the fear. A 2024 online poll by MassMutual also found this, with 45% of retirees saying they were less bored than they had expected. Many retirees even say they’re busier than ever (a topic for another post!).
Connect with others around your vision and concerns. Share your hopes and any concerns with a supportive partner, friend, or colleague. Or, engage a qualified retirement coach or a planner for support. Communicating your plans brings more clarity, and it may surface ideas or areas you had not considered.
The good news is that the conversation around retirement planning is shifting, with more attention, resources, and tools to support planning beyond finances. This was once something retirees quietly wrestled with, often surrounded by friends and family who did not quite understand. Many have felt alone in their adjustment to retirement, and some even that something was wrong with them. Today, the personal experience of leaving work behind is becoming more widely recognized.
How Retirement Life Plan helps
Planning your own retirement? We have resources to support you with preparing for the non-financial side of retirement. Visit our page, Design Your Retirement to browse resources, connect with a Certified Retirement Life Coach, or join a workshop or event hosted by Certified Retirement Life Coaches.
At Retirement Life Plan, we are a part of a move toward more holistic retirement planning. We help coaches, financial planners, and employers go deeper than the usual retirement conversation and support people through the full picture of a personally fulfilling retirement. That means considering not only whether they will have enough money or how full their calendar is, but how they will connect, feel engaged, and find meaning.
Our programs give professionals a research-based understanding of the personal, social, and emotional shifts retirement brings, along with practical tools to explore them with clients. The goal is to help people move from worry toward a retirement that is not only well-funded, but well-lived.
→ For coaches: Retirement Life Coach Certification — ICF-accredited for 15 CCE hours
→ For financial planners and other professionals: Psychology of Retirement Masterclass
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