Sources of Retirement Income: Worker Expectations vs. Retiree Realities

September 17, 2024

About 90% of retirees say they rely on Social Security, approximately the same as the percentage of workers who expect Social Security to help them meet their retirement income needs. Similarly, about 60% of workers expect a traditional pension plan to provide income, which is only slightly higher than the percentage of retirees who say a pension helps pay their bills. In other cases, worker expectations differ dramatically from retiree realities.

A graph showing worker expectations for retirement income vs. retiree's actual experience

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