Among the key findings from the 2022 survey:

Early retirement: 56% of retirees reported retiring earlier than planned, nearly half because of reasons beyond their control, such as health issues (23%), losing their job (11%) or caring for family (9%). These issues reduced their time to save for retirement.
Income gap: Generating retirement income was a top challenge for retirees, along with understanding how long their savings will last. Retirees reported that the most unexpected aspect of managing their retirement spending was understanding what their income will be so they can know what they can spend (29%), followed by health care costs (23%), housing and home maintenance costs (22%) and supporting family members (11%).
Guaranteed income shortfall: Retirees prefer retirement income to be consistent and stable (42%) and guaranteed for life (41%). More than three-fourths said they would like to receive at least half of their retirement income from guaranteed sources, including Social Security. However, many are coming up short, with only 55% of retiree respondents achieving this goal.
Part-time work: The preference for part-time work rose notably from last year's report, highlighting the challenge of generating retirement income in volatile markets; 34% of retirees (up from 25%) prefer part-time work as a means to help generate income. Working respondents, particularly those nearest retirement, would prefer part-time work (55%), followed by investments (47%), rental income (28%) and annuities (26%).
Spending trends: 42% of retirees are spending less in retirement than anticipated, 31% are spending what they expected and 22% are spending more.

"A clear theme from our findings is retirement income uncertainty," says Mike Moran, senior pension strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management. "We believe this uncertainty is changing retiree behavior in hopes of preserving their savings for longer, including a surge in interest for part-time work in retirement and lower overall spending."

Instant Insights /

Too Many Americans Caught in a Financial Vortex

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