If there is one thing most Americans seem to agree on even in an election year, it’s that retirement is expensive in the United States — and most people don’t have nearly enough savings to cover it.

                By                    Vance Cariaga

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U.S. adults anticipate they will need $1.25 million to retire comfortably, according to Northwestern Mutual’s 2022 Planning & Progress Study, which was released on Tuesday. That figure is up 20% from 2021. At the same time, Americans’ average retirement savings has dropped 11% — from $98,800 last year to $86,869 in 2022 — while their expected retirement age has risen to 64 from 62.6 a year ago.

This year’s soaring inflation rate has a lot to do with why Americans think they need 20% more money to retire comfortably now vs. last year, said Christian Mitchell, executive vice president and chief customer officer at Northwestern Mutual.

“It’s a period of uncertainty for many people, driven largely by rising inflation and volatility in the markets,” Mitchell said in a press release. “We’ve also seen upticks in spending year-over-year not only as a result of inflation, but also as people have resumed a sense of normalcy in their lives following the earlier days of the pandemic. These factors are leading many people to recalibrate their thinking about how much they’ll need to retire and how long it will take them to get there.”

The study is based on a survey of 2,381 adults aged 18 or older conducted earlier this year by The Harris Poll on behalf of Northwestern Mutual. Among its findings are that Americans as a whole are not very confident about their retirement preparedness, and they don’t have much faith in Social Security as a safety net.

More than four in ten (43%) respondents said they don’t expect to be financially ready for retirement when the time comes. A similar percentage (45%) said they can imagine a time when Social Security no longer exists.

Many of these studies reveal the massive gap between what most Americans think they need to retire comfortably and what they actually have.

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As recently as 2017, Americans between the ages of 55 and 64 had median retirement savings of about $107,000, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Given these discrepancies, it’s understandable that a growing percentage of Americans plan to delay retirement to give themselves more time to build up their savings. According to the Northwestern Mutual study, Americans on average now plan to work until the age of 64, up from 62.6 last year.

“It’s one of those questions on so many people’s minds — how long should I expect to work in order to save enough for retirement?” Mitchell said. “It’s really difficult to answer because there are all kinds of considerations to factor in. But too many people grapple with it in a bubble. With greater clarity you can make a more confident call and getting professional advice can provide that clarity.”

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Despite the benefits of consulting with a financial advisor, less than one-fifth (18%) of those surveyed said they hired one to address the possibility of outliving their retirement savings. One-quarter planned to address it through increased savings, while a little more than one-fifth said they planned to put together a financial plan or invest more.