Nearly two-thirds of Americans say they are more worried about running out of money in retirement than dying, and many retirees could be on track to turn that fear into a stark reality.
About half of America’s retirees don’t take any systematic approach to withdrawing their many billions of dollars in retirement assets, according to an October survey from IRALogix, a retirement technology firm. Just 22 percent of retirees follow any kind of plan.
“You can’t just arrive at age 65 or 67 and say, ‘OK, now what am I going to do?’ It’s a process, not an event,” said Peter de Silva, chief executive of IRALogix. “It’s coming. You’ve got to plan for this.”
Working from a plan becomes crucial if stock prices plummet in the early years of your retirement, when taking withdrawals during just a few years of down markets can put you at risk of running out of money. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that people 65 and older consistently leave the work force when stocks go up, and rejoin it when markets drop, while a 2024 T. Rowe Price report noted that about 10 percent of retirement-age Americans say they have to work for financial reasons.
