In the 2021 Retirement Confidence Survey conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) and Greenwald Research, 50% of workers and 72% of retirees say the COVID-19 pandemic has not changed their confidence in achieving a secure retirement. Still, 33% of workers and 25% of retirees say it’s made them somewhat or significantly less confident they will have enough to live comfortably throughout retirement. Among workers who feel less confident, 3 in 10 say the pandemic has negatively impacted their ability to save for retirement, due to reduced hours, income, or job changes.

Among the 40% of workers in the EBRI study who reported a job loss or other reduction in income in the past year, 60% say this has had a negative impact on their ability to save for retirement. As a result, these workers are less likely to feel confident that they are doing a good job preparing for retirement or that they will have enough to last their entire life. In fact, 3 out of 4 workers who experienced income loss reported feeling stressed about preparing for retirement, compared with just half who haven’t had the same experience.

Workplace retirement plans play a critical role in promoting retirement confidence

Among those still working, 90% expect Social Security to pay a portion of their expenses in retirement and 83% expect to rely on employer retirement plan savings, such as 401(k) or 403(b) plans, as a source of income in retirement, compared with just 46% of retirees.

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