The proportion of American adults aged 30 and older who consider themselves financially insecure has risen to 42% in January 2026, up from 39% in January 2022, according to the seventh wave of the AARP Financial Security Trends Survey released Thursday. The share reporting a secure financial situation slipped from 61% to 58% over the same period.
While lower-income households remain the most vulnerable, the survey reveals that the steepest decline in confidence has occurred among middle- and higher-income earners. Among adults earning between $75,000 and $99,000 annually, the share feeling insecure jumped 16 percentage points, from 20% to 36%. For those earning $100,000 or more, insecurity rose from 14% to 21%.
Health care costs emerged as a record-level concern. A record 49% of respondents said their monthly health care expenses are higher than a year ago, up from 42% in 2022. Among financially insecure adults carrying credit card debt, 51% now cite health care costs as a contributor to that debt, compared with 47% in 2022. The broader inflation picture shows average weekly earnings for private-sector workers rose 17% from January 2022 to January 2026, roughly matching the 16% increase in the Consumer Price Index. Yet 72% of adults 30-plus remain worried that prices will outpace their income.
“Rising costs are eating into household incomes across the board, and older Americans are feeling that gap acutely,” said Richard Johnson, vice president of financial security at the AARP Public Policy Institute. “When nearly seven in ten say prices are rising faster than their income, that is not a story about individual financial decisions, it is a story about affordability.”
The survey’s regression analysis identifies three key factors most strongly linked to financial security: emergency savings, retirement savings, and the absence of unmanageable credit card debt. Among adults earning $40,000 to $74,000, 84% of those who feel secure have emergency savings, versus just 36% of those who feel insecure. Confidence in handling a $2,000 surprise expense reflects a similar divide: 37% of secure adults say they could cover it without difficulty, compared with only 3% of insecure adults.
Credit card debt is a growing burden for the insecure. Some 56% of financially insecure adults carry revolving balances, nearly double the 29% rate among secure adults. Among insecure adults with credit card debt, 34% now owe more than $10,000, up from 25% in 2022. Overall, 57% of the financially insecure say they have more debt than they can manage, versus 14% of secure adults.
Access to employer-sponsored retirement plans remains a key differentiator. Among non-retired adults, 52% of those who have ever worked for an employer offering a retirement savings plan have accumulated at least $100,000 in retirement savings, compared with just 16% of those who have never had such access. Some 66% of financially secure adults report having had access to a workplace plan, versus 46% of insecure adults. This aligns with recent data from Vanguard showing record auto-enrollment and savings rates, though hardship withdrawals are also rising. Vanguard's 2025 data underscores the importance of workplace plans in building retirement security.
Younger, higher-income adults are newly exposed to financial pressure. Among those earning $75,000 to $99,000, adults aged 30 to 49 saw the steepest increase in insecurity since 2022, up 26 percentage points from 27% to 53%. This cohort’s rising anxiety may reflect the broader affordability challenges noted by AARP’s Nancy LeaMond, who emphasized that “Social Security is the critical foundation of retirement security that Americans have earned through a lifetime of hard work.” The findings come as policymakers debate Social Security’s future, with Senator Warren recently demanding clarity on retirement age plans as trust fund depletion accelerates. Warren's letter highlights the stakes for advisors advising clients on retirement income.
Among the 27% of respondents who said their finances improved over the past year, a record 33% attributed that improvement to investment gains, likely reflecting strong equity market performance in 2025. In contrast, the financially insecure remain deeply worried: nearly 90% are anxious about rising prices and retirement security, rates essentially unchanged from 2022. Their debt loads have not shrunk, and their emergency savings remain minimal.
The survey’s findings underscore a widening gap between the financially secure and insecure, with health care costs and credit card debt acting as primary drivers. For advisors, the data suggests that clients in middle- and higher-income brackets may need more tailored guidance on managing health care expenses and debt, as well as strategies to bolster emergency savings. As the AARP report notes, income alone does not tell the full story—financial security increasingly hinges on access to workplace retirement plans and the ability to weather unexpected expenses.
