Three-quarters of American retirees have big savings regrets — and younger workers are planning to put off retirement to avoid them

“The retirees in this study are sending a clear and urgent message to everyone still in the workforce: what happens today will define the retirement you experience tomorrow,” Surya Kolluri, head of TIAA Institute, said in a statement. “A retirement that meets or exceeds expectations requires planning for all the things you enjoy plus the unexpected.”

##What experts took away from the TIAA study

The study digs deeper into the psyche of the average U.S. retiree, while providing a much-needed list of “red flags” younger retirement savers need to avoid. Here’s a closer look at the most critical of those lessons learned.

Underestimating retirement savings is a recurring theme

Multiple factors are in play with U.S. retiree financial regrets, but some are more equal than others, and all fall under insufficient planning, TIAA reported.

Nearly half (47%) of TIAA survey respondents say they regret not having clear retirement goals, while 49% expressed remorse over miscalculating healthcare and long-term care costs. Meanwhile, 49% regret not accounting for late working-year financial factors, health issues, career shifts, job loss and caregiving responsibilities. That issue alone resonated deeply with survey responders, with 51% noting they had to leave the workforce for longer than one year due to an unplanned event.

Retirement savings experts say that remorse is all too real, as creating a rigid retirement plan that leaves no room for flexibility is a common misconception many individuals tend to have about saving for their retirement. “Often, savers may plan unemployment around a specific age they’d like to retire, when in reality, predicting the twists and turns of life is nearly impossible,” Brianna Rodgers, director of investor education at Madison Trust Company, told Moneywise.

Unexpected events like a health crisis, family obligations or a job loss can force you into retiring sooner than you’d originally planned. “Shape your retirement plan around various retiring possibilities to help make transitions easier in the event you’ll need to switch up your retirement timeline and strategy,” Rodgers advised.

Get creative with long-term savings

The study also noted the importance of being forward-thinking and innovative with retirement savings.

That’s particularly true when assuming you’ll be able to simply work longer or later in life, as many retirees apparently assume, based on the TIAA study. After all, good health is never guaranteed, nor is maintaining or finding new work. Instead, younger generations may consider shifting their focus to acquiring multiple streams of income, Rodgers noted.

“This doesn’t necessarily suggest just starting a side hustle,” she said. “Instead, young investors can consider working towards creating a diversified retirement portfolio and investing in assets that have the potential to produce passive income.” Alternative investments like real estate, private lending, and cryptocurrency make good sense for current long-term savers, financial gurus say.

Stay disciplined and keep stacking retirement cash

Younger workers should take heed from the TIAA study and learn from their elders’ regrets and their mistakes, especially on how older Americans approached savings in their career years.

“It’s important for people to realize that they can’t save their way to a comfortable retirement,” Robert Johnson, professor of finance, Heider College of Business at Creighton University, told Moneywise. “It’s essential they save and invest their way to a comfortable retirement. Financial mistakes begin early in life, and the biggest financial mistake people make is taking too little risk, not too much risk.”

Unfortunately, too many current retirees allocate long-term savings to money market accounts or low-risk bonds, instead of taking the long view and investing in the stock market.

According to data compiled by Ibbotson Associates, large capitalization stocks (think S&P 500) returned 10.5% compounded annually from 1926-2025. Over that same time period, long-term government bonds returned 5.0% annually, and Treasury bills returned 3.3% annually.

“The surest way to build wealth over long time horizons is to invest in a diversified portfolio of common stocks,” Johnson advised.

Someone with a long-time horizon — and people in their 30s have a long time horizon — “should not have exposure to money market instruments, yet many investors do because they fear the volatility of the stock market,” Johnson added.

What separates the prepared from retirees with regrets

One big factor that accelerates retirement savings is working closely with a trusted financial advisor, a lament also noted by retirees who tend to under-save for their golden years.

Data from Vanguard shows that advisors can add up to about 3% annually in net returns, primarily through behavioral coaching, tax strategies, withdrawal planning, disciplined portfolio management, and stock and fund selection. Compounded after 20, 30, or 40 years of annual retirement savings, that figure really adds up.

Separate data from a 2024 Northwestern Mutual report shows U.S. adults who partner with an advisor expect to retire at age 64, two years sooner than Americans who don’t work with an advisor. The same study shows retirement saver/advisor teams save twice as much money over the long haul as savers with no professional investing help.