F&G, WTW surveys find delayed retirement and lower financial security

About 75% of U.S. pre-retirees have considered or are already delaying retirement, up from 70% in 2025, according to F&G's Retirement Reconsidered survey released Oct. 15. The survey of U.S. adults age 50 and older also found 51% plan to semi-retire rather than stop working entirely.

Sixty percent described retirement as a gradual transition over time rather than a single milestone, and only 21% associated it with stopping work completely. More than half, 53%, agreed the journey to retirement is becoming more flexible.

“Our findings reinforce that retirement is no longer a one-size-fits-all journey,” Ron Barrett, F&G's chief distribution officer, wrote in an email. He said the transition “may involve working fewer hours, pursuing part-time opportunities or gradually stepping away from the workforce altogether.”

The concerns shaping those decisions were mostly financial: running out of money during retirement, cited by 52%; the availability of Social Security, 46%; the price of healthcare and long-term expenses, 43%; and the availability of Medicare, 31%.

WTW's 2026 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey, also released Oct. 15, found 36% of U.S. employees feel financially secure this year, down from 46% in 2019. Employees in their 40s reported the least security, at 30%, with 42% saying they are struggling financially and 53% living paycheck to paycheck. Among retiree respondents, 41% said they delayed or skipped doctor visits in 2025 because of money worries, and 69% of employees in their 40s expected their generation to be much worse off in retirement than their parents' generation.

The two surveys cover different populations — F&G polled adults 50 and older, WTW polled employees and retirees — but health costs run through both. Healthcare and long-term expenses ranked among the top concerns for 43% of F&G respondents, while 41% of WTW retiree respondents reported skipping or delaying care, suggesting cost pressure is shaping behavior and not only sentiment.

Guardian's Oct. 13 Retirement Redefined research found 34% of respondents plan income at 80 or older.

RCD's September reporting on Schroders' 2026 survey found 51% of retirees had no strategy for converting savings into income. For sponsors, the question is settled by the plan default rather than the seminar: if half of pre-retirees intend to work less rather than stop, the account may need to serve a partial-income phase, not a single switch.