The 2025 Planning & Progress Study, an annual research study from Northwestern Mutual, explores U.S. adults’ attitudes and behaviors toward money, financial decision-making, and the broader issues impacting people’s long-term financial security.
Americans’ “magic number” to retire comfortably in 2025 is $1.26 million, $200K less than the $1.46 million reported last year and nearly flat with 2022 and 2023 estimates.
However, among Americans who have retirement savings, one in four (25 percent) say they have just one year or less of their current annual income put aside for it.
- More than half (51 percent) of Americans, including 40 percent of Baby Boomers, think it’s somewhat or very likely they will outlive their savings, according to the study.
- In contrast, only 16 percent feel confident enough to say the prospect of outliving their wealth is “very unlikely.” Meanwhile, more than a third (35 percent) of Americans say they have not taken any steps to address that potential outcome.
