Only four in 10 pre-retirees work with an adviser, LIMRA finds

Only four in 10 Americans nearing retirement work with a financial professional, according to LIMRA's 2026 Retirement Income Readiness Report. InvestmentNews covered the report on October 14; it surveyed 486 pre-retirees and 804 retirees aged 45 and older in the United States in April 2026, and defines pre-retirees as workers 45 and older who plan to retire within 10 years.

Eighty-eight percent of pre-retirees have considered how they will generate retirement income, but 76% have no plan or spent fewer than five hours developing, reviewing or updating one in the past year.

Bill Nash, head of member relations at LIMRA and LOMA, told InvestmentNews the missing piece is the step between intention and action. "Consumers have already done the hardest part. They are paying attention, and they are worried about the right things. What's missing is the step from thinking to doing, and that is exactly where the industry comes in."

Pre-retirees who work with a professional report notably stronger feelings of preparedness: 77% describe themselves as highly prepared, against 47% of those going it alone. Yet nearly six in 10 pre-retirees rate themselves as highly prepared even as half have no written retirement plan or have not updated one recently.

Stated worries are concentrated: 43% of pre-retirees cite cost-of-living volatility, and 30% are concerned about outliving their savings. InvestmentNews reports the LIMRA report outlines five approaches for advisers, among them making a written plan the first deliverable and framing the conversation around income. The report cautions that urgency-based outreach is likely to miss the mark, because these prospects already believe planning matters.

An adviser still has to deliver the income once the plan is written, and fee-based products remain a small share of annuity premiums: fee-based products account for about 1% of annuity premiums, a 2025 LIMRA study found, even as insurers call the RIA channel their likeliest growth market.