Pre-Retirees Concerned About Retirement Income but Confused by Income Products

U.S. workers age 40 through 61 are uncertain about their options to establish retirement income, according to results of a new poll published on Tuesday.

Among respondents from Generation X and Millennials, more than 60% said they had fewer guaranteed income options than previous generations and said they had fewer concerns about Social Security’s survival, according to the Harris Poll, conducted on behalf of Athene Holding Ltd. Additionally, 43% said they were very or extremely concerned about not having a guaranteed source of income in retirement.

Most respondents (85%) reported guaranteed monthly income in retirement was very or somewhat appealing, showing the most interest in income for life (cited by 57%) and receiving a set monthly payment (cited by 49%). However, just 23% of respondents reported having purchased annuities.

The poll also found comprehension of annuities lacking, with 12% of respondents saying they did not understand annuities, 54% saying they knew very little about or somewhat understood annuities, and just 34% saying they mostly or fully understood them. While 51% said they would consider buying or planned to buy annuities, 52% brought up factors that made them hesitate to do so, including the perception that they are confusing (cited by 20%) and concerns about their money being unavailable (cited by 20%).

Similarly, LIMRA’s “Retirement Income Readiness Report,” published last month, found that 71% of pre-retirees were interested in retirement income that included protected lifetime income streams such as Social Security, pensions or annuities and 74% said they were very or somewhat interested in learning about protected lifetime income . Respondents cited several concerns about retirement income products, including fees (35%), lack of control over savings (27%), and locking up money (26%).

“The challenge for the industry is not simply product awareness,” the LIMRA report stated. “It is helping consumers understand how retirement income solutions fit into broader financial plans and long-term retirement goals, and how those solutions can be calibrated to investors’ preferences and risk tolerance.”

Slow Gains in Learning

The lack of familiarity with retirement income products is paired with a lack of access to them from workplace retirement plans, according to the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association Retirement Research Center’s recently published 2026 Retirement Income/Pre-Retiree Survey.

Just 22% of studied workplace retirement plans offered access to guaranteed lifetime income products, and 29% of pre-retirees did not know if their retirement plan offered access to such investments, according to DCIIA.

More than half (56%) of pre-retirees who said they had access to guaranteed lifetime income said they had invested in it, and a similar percentage without access (57%) reported being somewhat or very interested in it. However, most respondents who did not invest in a guaranteed investment reported they did not know enough to make an informed decision. That sentiment was commonplace, regardless of respondents’ retirement account balances—including 63% with balances less than $100,000, 67% with balances less than $500,000 and 53% with balances less than $3 million.

DCIIA analysts found that, based on the survey’s data, access to broader financial planning made a difference in understanding and investment. Some 68% of respondents that reported working with a financial adviser chose to invest in guaranteed lifetime income, compared with 40% of respondents who did not work with an adviser. Among people who reported having “in-depth” discussions on retirement income with their adviser, 86% were invested in guaranteed lifetime income, compared with 74% who had not discussed it with their advisers.

Bill Nash, vice president and head of member relations and sales for LIMRA and LOMA, says that while “retirement income is top of mind” for most respondents, discussions about income products could be improved.

“Advisers in the industry have got to get away from products, per se, and really get into what they do,” Nash says. “Are you comfortable with a 20% or 30% drop in your account? What percentage of your income do you want to have guaranteed to cover your essentials? … [Pre-retirees’] perspectives, risk tolerance goals and objectives are all different.”

In the poll for Athene, the Harris Poll conducted from June 26 through July 7 an online survey of 2,022 U.S. residents aged 40 through 61 with at least $100,000 in investable assets and household income of at least $50,000. LIMRA’s U.S. Consumer Sentiment: April 2026 survey included responses from 486 pre-retirees aged at least 45 who planned to retire within the next 10 years.