By the end of the decade, the U.S. will be markedly older. One in five Americans will be at least 65 by 2030, and by 2034, older adults will outnumber children for the first time, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
A recent report from The New York Times details how retirement, in particular, has become one of the economy’s largest and fastest-growing forces.
Yet the experience of aging remains sharply unequal, shaped by gaps in savings, access to workplace plans, and the rising costs of health care and long-term care.
Retirement accounts swell as boomers exit work force
Americans held $45.8 trillion in individual retirement accounts, 401(k)s, pension funds and annuities in mid-2025. That was nearly double the total from a decade earlier, the Times reported, citing data from the Investment Company Institute.
Strong market performance fueled much of the growth, but higher participation and contribution rates in workplace plans also played a role.
Most new assets have flowed into 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts. IRAs have held more assets than workplace plans for five consecutive years, driven largely by rollovers as baby boomers retire, said Peter Brady, senior economic adviser at the Investment Company Institute.
“That’s where a lot of the action is now, and a lot of the competition as people transition into retirement,” Brady told the Times.
Among workers who have access to a 401(k), participation has climbed to 85%, according to Vanguard. The average savings rate reached 7.7% of wages in 2024 — helped by automatic enrollment and automatic increases in contributions.
Combined employee and employer contributions now average about 12% of pay, up from 10.8% in 2015. Target date funds have become dominant and automatically shift investments as workers age.
At Vanguard, 84% of participants used these funds in 2024.
Later retirements, fluid work exits
Americans are also working longer.
Men now retire at an average age of 64, about three years later than in the mid-1990s, according to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Women’s retirement age has climbed even more sharply, to 62.6 in 2024, up from about 55 in the 1960s.
The age at which people claim Social Security has risen by roughly two years since the mid-1990s — even through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of people ended up being able to work from home, and for certain types of workers, that actually allowed them to delay retirement,” Anqi Chen, the center’s associate director of savings and household finance, told the Times.
About 40% of Social Security beneficiaries continue working after claiming benefits.
“People do flow in and out of retirement,” Chen said. “It might be due to their health, or their economic or family situation, but some people find it difficult to actually afford retirement.”
For 2026, workers can contribute up to $24,500 to a 401(k), plus an $8,000 catch-up for those 50 and older.
Workers ages 60 to 63 can make “super-catch-up” contributions of up to $11,250. Higher earners must make catch-up contributions as Roth IRA contributions. IRA limits rose to $7,500, with a $1,100 catch-up.
Health care and long-term care strain budgets
Costs outside retirement accounts loom large.
Some early retirees face an average jump of $11,000 in annual health insurance premiums as expanded Affordable Care Act subsidies expire.
A 64-year-old just above the subsidy cutoff would pay about $16,500 a year for coverage, according to KFF.
“It’s the pre-Medicare population that will get slammed hardest with higher premiums if the enhanced subsidies don’t get extended,” said Tricia Neuman, senior vice president at KFF.
Medicare premiums are also climbing, with trustees projecting continued increases over the next decade. Long-term care costs remain daunting at $10,650 a month for a private nursing home room in 2024, according to CareScout.
About 15% of older adults lived in poverty in 2024, up from 10.7% in 2021 — the only age group to see an increase.
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