Nearly half of retirees worry they’ll outlive their savings, while 25% are burdened by housing costs

Forty-five percent of retirement-age survey respondents are concerned that they will outlive their savings while 25% spend nearly one-third of their monthly income on housing costs. This is according to new data released by Clever Real Estate.

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The survey results show stark declines in overall financial sentiment based on responses from 1,000 retired Americans at least 62 years old, with a median age of 70. Forty-three percent of respondents said they would rather die sooner than outlive their savings out of concern for a decline in their quality of life.

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But more than one in three (39%) said they have watched their standard of living fall in retirement, while roughly one-third (30%) said they have already “spent too much” of their retirement savings.

The survey cites the recommended amount of retirement savings at just over $600,000, but respondents said they have saved an average of about $308,000, barely half of this recommended amount. And 27% of respondents said they have no retirement savings at all.

Interestingly, nearly half of respondents (46%) said that the media paints an overly positive picture of what retirement is actually like. More than half (53%) said they actively prioritize retirement savings over “enjoying” their post-employment lives.

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Just under half of respondents also admitted they didn’t begin saving for retirement until they were in their 40s, while nearly two-thirds (64%) expressed regrets about retirement.

Mortgage debt was not specified, but retirees said their debt obligations are largely elevated. About two-thirds of respondents said they’re carrying some kind of debt beyond their mortgage, and nearly one-third (31%) said they are more than $10,000 in debt.

Eighty percent of respondents also believe the government should be doing more to help retirees — a tall order considering the place of the Social Security program in gridlocked political conversations, particularly in a narrowly-divided Congress. At the same time, more than half of respondents (52%) feel that retirees rely too much on government programs like Social Security as opposed to their own savings.

In addition, 90% of respondents said that dedicated retirement communities are “overpriced and unaffordable for the average person,” while 72% of respondents said they could not afford a home in the current market.

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