Longevity, AI Concerns Take Toll on Retirement Readiness, per TIAA
More than half of survey respondents cited running out of money as a top retirement concern, while many worried AI could disrupt retirement preparation.
As artificial intelligence changes the workforce and accessibility to medicines such as GLP-1 medications potentially lengthens lifespans, the effects on retirement are starting to show.
According to the 2026 Retirement in the Age of AI and GLP-1s Survey, published by TIAA this morning, 53% of 1,000 surveyed U.S. adults aged 18 through 65 said they worry more about outliving their savings than about underspending and not enjoying their retirement.Most respondents (83%) expressed financial concerns about living longer. Asked what costs worried them most, 46% said basic expenses, 41% said healthcare costs, and 42% cited a lack of disposable income to enjoy retirement.
AI is also adding a new layer of uncertainty to the future of retirement, with one-third of adults saying they were very concerned AI could threaten their earning potential before retirement.
“Longevity deserves the most immediate attention, because rising costs and AI disruption are really longevity problems in disguise,” wrote Tim Pitney, head of lifetime income distribution at TIAA, in an email to PLANADVISER. “Rising costs erode purchasing power over a longer retirement, and AI-driven career disruption shortens the time workers have to build savings in the first place.”
Survey findings showed 14% of pre-retirees identified themselves as “extremely concerned” and 19% “very concerned” about AI impacting their careers. When split into age groups, the youngest cohort of respondents showed the most concern.
Forty-two percent of Generation Z adults said they were extremely or very concerned about the impact AI will have on their career and retirement savings, compared with 33% of Millennials and 28% of Generation X and Baby Boomers combined.
“What stood out to me wasn’t a single statistic, it was how interconnected these concerns have become in participants’ minds,” wrote Jason Key, head of consultant relations in an email to PLANADVISER. “A few years ago, we’d have studied these as separate issues; now participants are connecting them instinctively.”
According to Key, this shift in participants’ outlook on retirement concerns presents an opportunity for advisers and sponsors to use retirement plans in addressing AI and longevity worries.
“The shift for consultants to recognize is that participants aren’t just asking whether they’ve saved enough. They’re asking whether their plan can convert those savings into guaranteed income that lasts, which is a bigger ask of plan design than we’ve typically seen,” he wrote.
More than one-quarter (27%) of surveyed adults said AI will increase healthcare costs by creating expensive new breakthrough treatments, and 22% said AI will lower costs by making care more efficient, preventative and accessible.
For medical costs, 77% of respondents said they had already noticed rising healthcare costs as a direct threat to retirement plans. Twenty percent expected AI to have no significant financial impact on healthcare costs in retirement, and the largest group—32%—could not predict the impact of AI.
For sponsors and advisers looking to address such concerns, Key recommends taking the lead on addressing important issues to participants now.
“Four in 10 Americans don’t believe traditional retirement planning accounts for how long they may actually live, and more than half fear running out of money before they die. Consultants who recognize and treat this as a plan design problem will have the advantage,” Key wrote. “When you audit a plan’s design every two to three years, the availability of guaranteed lifetime income should be on par with fees and the investment menu.”