Inflation has emerged as the dominant financial worry for retirees and pre-retirees heading into the second half of 2026, according to a new survey from the Oath Money & Meaning Institute, the research arm of Oath, a financial and estate planning firm based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Q3 2026 survey, which polled 322 Americans at or near retirement age with an average of $500,000 in savings, found that 25% of respondents identified rising costs of groceries, utilities, and gas as their top financial concern for the remainder of the year. That figure outpaced worries about investment or market losses (17%) and unexpected medical or health care expenses (11%). Notably, nearly one in four respondents said they have no major financial worries at all.
The data suggests that while inflation is influencing spending decisions, retirees are largely protecting their core financial needs. More than 40% of respondents said they have not cut back on spending over the past year. Among those who have reduced outlays, the cutbacks are concentrated in discretionary categories: dining out leads at 36%, followed by shopping for non-essential items (30%), travel or vacations (26%), and entertainment or events (24%). By contrast, only 3% said they have delayed medical care, 3% have reduced fitness or preventive care, and just 2% have cut essential items. This pattern indicates that retirees are trimming the enjoyable extras while keeping their financial fundamentals intact.
Even so, the survey makes clear that economic pressures are having a real effect on how retirement feels. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said that rising prices or market volatility have made them feel less free to enjoy retirement over the past year; 39% said this happens "sometimes" and 21% said it happens "often." Only 9% said they had never experienced that sense of constraint. "Most retirement investors we surveyed are financially stable and not in crisis, but many aren't fully realizing the retirement they imagined," said Rod Yancy, founder and CEO of Oath, which serves thousands of clients across 46 offices in 23 states. "Our research shows that difference is tied to how deliberately they planned for life beyond money — purpose, routines, and relationships."
Perhaps the most telling finding for wealth management professionals is the gap between financial preparation and life preparation. Only 16% of respondents said they engaged in extensive, structured planning for how they wanted to spend their time, relationships, health, and sense of purpose — separate from their financial plan. A much larger share, 36%, said they gave it some thought but without structure, and 32% said they reflected on it informally without any real process. Eleven percent assumed retirement would sort itself out once they stopped working.
This gap shows up in the daily texture of retirees' lives. While 41% say their days "often" reflect what matters most to them, only 15% say that is "always" the case, and 31% say it is only "sometimes" true. The two largest self-identified retirement phases among respondents were "stability/routine," at 35%, and "reorientation," at 26% — suggesting that while most are not struggling, many are still working out what a fulfilling retirement actually looks like for them.
About 70% of respondents reported engaging in something they find genuinely purposeful either frequently or regularly — a promising baseline. But the survey suggests that without deliberate planning for the non-financial dimensions of retirement, many Americans are arriving at a life that works on paper but falls short of its potential. For advisors, this points to an opportunity to expand the conversation beyond portfolio construction and into holistic life planning, a theme echoed in recent demand for guaranteed income and generational fears about retirement.
As the industry grapples with rising recruiting costs and regulatory scrutiny, the Oath survey underscores that the next frontier in retirement planning may be less about numbers and more about meaning. Advisors who can help clients articulate a vision for their post-career years — and build a plan to achieve it — may find themselves better positioned to serve a demographic that is financially secure but experientially underwhelmed.
