May 19, 2026
It seems AI is becoming more and more a part of our daily lives — and many people are worried about what it means for their careers.
According to data from the Federal Reserve's Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025 report (1), 24% of workers ages 30 to 44 and 23% of workers ages 18 to 29 are concerned they will lose their jobs to AI. On the other hand, workers ages 60 and over were the least likely of all to have this concern, at 14%. And this does seem to make sense – workers of that age have fewer years ahead in their careers than younger ones, so they may think AI won't affect them before retirement.
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But AI may be moving faster than their own retirement plans, meaning there is less time than they think before it affects their own jobs. And many older people may have more years of work ahead than they originally planned.
Should they be more worried?
According to a 2026 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (2) (GAO), the percentage of older workers (55 and up) increased from 15% to 23% of the workforce from 2003 to 2023.
When asked why they were working at an older age, more than half of the people the GAO interviewed "said they were not ready for retirement or were seeking income to meet their everyday expenses." Some also said they "wanted to supplement their Social Security income or were not eligible yet for full Social Security retirement benefits."
One worker said, "I'm 63 years old. Job security is one of my main focuses … because I'm one check from being homeless."
So with an increased cost-of-living leading some people to push their retirement back, AI taking income you might still need could be cause for concern.
Times are changing fast
The World Economic Forum's 2025 Future of Jobs Report (3) found that AI and information processing technologies are the top trends expected to drive business transformation from 2025 to 2030.
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The report found that reading, writing, mathematics, big data, and dependability and attention to detail are some of the skills for which generative AI has a high capacity, to the point of being able to potentially act as a substitution for human intelligence.
Additionally, 28.5% of the more than 2,800 granular skills examined in the study exhibit a moderate capacity of substitution, "highlighting areas where, as the technology continues to evolve, its capacity of substitution could increase in the near future (4)."
Many older adults who want or need to keep working may have expertise in the skills most likely to be affected by AI. However, this doesn't necessarily mean older adults nearing retirement should be driven by the fear that they will be replaced, as it may be more likely their jobs will change but not completely disappear (5) before they really do retire.
But it is worth considering how this technology could change your own situation as you prepare for your financial future.
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What can you do?
Regardless of your personal worries surrounding AI, preparing your skills and finances for the future is key. Here are some things you can do now:
- Build your skills. As AI becomes increasingly skilled, so can you. Whether by advancing your technological skills through training programs (6) that can better your ability to work alongside generative AI, or by putting your energy toward learning new human-centric or tactile skills (or improving on ones you already have) you can make the effort to maintain your status in the workforce for as long as you will be a part of it.
- Supercharge your savings. Use whatever time you have left in your career to save as much money as you can to fund your golden years. Continue to contribute to your retirement accounts and build up your emergency fund in a high-yield savings account.
- Get rid of high-interest debt. Focusing on reducing your high-interest debt before retirement means you won't have to worry about paying those high monthly bills when you're eventually on a fixed income.
- Talk to a financial planner: If you are able to, getting advice from a planner as you near your retirement years could be very beneficial. A planner can help not only with your investment portfolio but also with your tax strategy, estate plan and budget, as well as any issues that may crop up during important life transitions.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
U.S. Federal Reserve (1); U.S. Government Accountability Office (2); World Economic Forum (3),(4); The New York Times (5); Johns Hopkins University (6)
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Em Norton is a Content Specialist at moneywise.com. They have been with the company since 2022.
