More Than Half of Recent Retirees Report Regrets Over How They Saved for Retirement
Only 40% of Nationwide survey respondents said they were on track with their retirement budget and decumulation plan.
Fifty-five percent of retirees who retired within the last five years told Nationwide in a survey they had regrets about their retirement savings, with the two most common regrets being not saving sooner (28%) and not contributing enough (13%).
Most respondents to Nationwide Retirement Institute’s “Advisor Authority” study did not feel confident in their savings. Only 40% said they were on track with their original budget and decumulation plan, and 21% said they had to be more conservative with spending than they expected before retirement. Only 20% reported not needing to access retirement savings by relying solely on the guaranteed income of a pension fund and/or Social Security.
“Many recent retirees told us they wish they had saved differently, highlighting a critical truth: retirement planning isn’t just about setting a number—it’s about building a strategy that anticipates life’s changes and regularly revisiting that plan as life happens,” said Kevin Jestice, president of Nationwide Retirement Solutions, in a statement. “For those already retired, it’s not too late to take steps to enhance your retirement strategy. Reviewing your budget, exploring additional income opportunities and working with a financial adviser can help you feel more secure and in control.”
Market Vulnerability
As a result of being especially vulnerable to market turbulence, recent retirees are more likely to make changes to their portfolios in the early years of retirement.
Half of surveyed recent retirees made at least some changes to their retirement portfolio due to market turbulence, compared to 33% of longer-term retirees.
Beyond portfolio adjustments, 47% of surveyed recent retirees said market volatility impacted the way they managed their portfolio and withdrawing or spent down retirement savings, compared to 35% among longer-term retirees.
Additionally, market uncertainty drove interest in guaranteed income offerings, with 36% of recent retirees surveyed saying they were more likely to put part of their portfolio into an annuity.
What Advisers Say
Among the 510 financial advisers and professionals also surveyed in the study, 60% said a leading challenge in their clients’ first two years of retirement was adjusting to not earning active income or not having a job.
Forty-two percent of advisers said dealing with clients’ anxiety about market volatility while living off investments was a challenge. Most advisers (85%) said recent market conditions led them to recommend changes to clients’ decumulation strategies. Clients maintaining a desired lifestyle within budget constraints was a challenge cited by 41% of advisers and 45% said they made significant changes to their recently retired clients’ decumulation strategies.
Advisers also reported that their recently retired clients monitored their portfolios closely, with 56% saying their clients reviewed their portfolio and financial plan at least monthly. Nearly one in five (19%) had clients that reviewed continuously and 16% had clients do weekly check-ins during periods of market volatility.
The Harris Poll conducted the online study on behalf of Nationwide with 510 U.S. advisers and financial professionals. Respondents included 267 registered investment advisers, 210 broker/dealers, 106 wirehouse advisers and 40 other financial professionals.
The 2,007 investors surveyed included 500 mass affluent individuals with investable assets of $100,000 to $499,000; 487 emerging high-net-worth investors with assets of $500,000 to $999,000; 307 high-net-worth investors, with assets of $1 million to $4.99 million; and 208 ultra-high-net-worth, with more than $5 million in assets, as well as 505 investors with between $10,000 to less than $100,000 investable assets. The survey included a subset of 257 “pre-retirees” aged 55-65 who were not retired.
The survey was conducted between August 19 and September 2, 2025. Among the investors, there were 180 recent retirees, meaning those who retired less than five years ago, and 274 longer-term retirees, who retired more than 5 years ago.