![](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/GettyImages-2198957026-e1793647752413.jpg?w=2048\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It feels as if everyone is being stretched thin by today\u2019s economy, and even some of the richest Americans are falling behind on retirement.<\/p>\n
Affluent Americans now say they need $2.6 million to retire comfortably\u2014a 26% jump from just a year ago\u2014according to newly released HSBC research conducted by Ipsos, which surveyed investors with at least $100,000 in investable assets. But on average, they\u2019ve saved only 52% of that goal, and no generation is fully on track. Baby boomers, closest to retirement, have reached 74% of their target, while millennials lag at just 42%.<\/p>\n
Uncertainty about the future of Social Security, persistent inflation, competing financial priorities, and the threat of job disruptions are all making it harder for Americans to save for retirement, according to a report released last week by the nonprofit Transamerica Institute.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a perfect storm,\u201d Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of Transamerica Institute, said in the report.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, retirement continues to get more expensive just as retirees\u2019 safety net weakens. A 65-year-old retiring this year can expect to spend an average of $185,500 on health care over the course of retirement\u2014a 7.5% year-over-year jump\u2014according to a July Fidelity report. With more than 4.1 million Americans turning 65 each year through 2027, according to annuity advocacy group Alliance for Lifetime Income, more retirees will have to lean on a Social Security retirement trust fund that\u2019s projected to run out of reserves by 2032.<\/p>\n
That strain isn\u2019t unique to the U.S. Longer lifespans and falling birth rates are pressuring pension systems around the world and costs could land on younger generations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe higher the longevity, the more years the pension funds have to cover, and so that immediately comes in as an additional liability,\u201d Sebastien Betermier, executive director at the International Centre for Pension Management, told CNBC in an interview published Oct. 25.<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about the cost that it imposes actually on the next generation,\u201d he continued. \u201cIt is a ticking time bomb.\u201d The U.S. retirement system earned a C+ in this year\u2019s Marsh CFA Institute Global Pension Index, ranking 33rd out of 55 retirement income systems.<\/p>\n
BlackRock\u2019s CEO Larry Fink has warned for years that the U.S. is barreling toward a retirement crisis. Americans surveyed by BlackRock said they\u2019d need about $2.1 million to retire comfortably, yet 62% had less than $150,000 saved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot. More than I was expecting,\u201d Fink wrote in his 2025 annual shareholders letter. And \u201calmost no one is close.\u201d<\/p>\n
HSBC\u2019s findings suggest the bar is even higher for wealthy Americans, and even they can\u2019t clear it. Gen X, the generation Fink warned would see the retirement problem \u201charder and nastier,\u201d has saved 55% of its goal. Gen Z, at 45%, is barely ahead of millennials.<\/p>\n
\u201cA comfortable retirement is becoming more expensive, even for those who have substantial wealth,\u201d Racquel Oden, HSBC\u2019s U.S. head of international wealth and premier banking, said in the release<\/p>\n
Retirement isn\u2019t the only goal anymore<\/p>\n
Part of the problem is that retirement is no longer the only thing affluent Americans are saving for. Seven in 10 respondents said they\u2019re planning for a life that doesn\u2019t follow a neat, step-by-step path. Funding retirement is still the most common goal (43%), but it\u2019s closely followed by personal or professional reinvention (39%), such as switching careers, launching a business, or taking a planned career break.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Supporting both children and aging parents comes in third (37%), which is a growing financial burden for some. As Americans live longer, more people are reaching retirement age while their parents still need care, and those costs can quickly eat into a fixed income.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re retired, you\u2019re basically living on a fixed income,\u201d Rita Choula, senior director of caregiving with the AARP Public Policy Institute, previously told Fortune. \u201cIf you have not factored in an additional $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 a year for your fixed income, that can have a big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
Longer lifespans are also reshaping what affluent Americans plan to leave behind for their heirs. More than half (59%) said living longer has already changed their legacy plans, HSBC found, and 31% said they\u2019re putting more toward their own future costs, like long-term care, even if it shrinks their heirs\u2019 inheritance.<\/p>\n
That shift comes as many wealthy parents are already uneasy about handing off their money. Fewer than half (47%) of Americans with at least $3 million in investable assets said they believe the next generation is ready to take on their family\u2019s philanthropic causes, down from 55% in 2024, according to Bank of America Private Bank research.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And nearly half (48%) of HSBC\u2019s respondents said their main goal is for their children or grandchildren to become fully financially independent, even if that means struggling along the way.<\/p>\n
#Transamerica #Institutes #CEO #warns #retirement #perfect #storm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It feels as if everyone is being stretched thin by today\u2019s economy, and even some…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[245],"tags":[585,24047,1500,208,1611,1137,24046,372,81],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19648"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stock999.top\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}