Research · Issue area · Older Adults
Older Adults' Financial Security
Most adults 65 and older report they are doing at least okay financially — but among older adults with household incomes under $25,000, fewer than half could cover a $400 emergency with cash. Which older adults are financially fragile, and how do fraud and late-life shocks affect them?
Research on the financial security of older Americans: emergency savings, retirement income, and exposure to fraud and exploitation.
About this issue area
On average, older adults report more financial security than younger adults. In the Institute's analysis of the Federal Reserve's 2024 SHED, 87 percent of adults 65 and older said they were doing at least okay financially, and 81 percent would cover a $400 emergency with cash or its equivalent.
Averages hide large differences. Among adults 65 and older with household incomes under $25,000, 56 percent said they were doing at least okay and 43 percent would cover a $400 expense with cash, compared with 96 percent and 91 percent among those with incomes of $100,000 or more. About one in ten adults 65 and older reported a non-credit-card fraud or scam in the past year.
Research questions in this area include: which older adults are most financially fragile and why; how fraud and exploitation interact with fixed incomes and limited savings; and which policies and services help older adults protect what they have built.
Plain-language explainer
What this means for you
Retirement is supposed to be the reward for a lifetime of work. For many older Americans it is. But for older adults living on modest fixed incomes, a single unexpected bill, or a single convincing scam, can undo years of careful saving, with little time left to rebuild.
Our research looks past the averages to the older adults who are most exposed, and at what actually protects them. Your support funds evidence that helps families, service providers and policymakers protect older Americans' financial security.
Forthcoming outputs
- — Research brief on financial hardship and scam exposure among adults 65 and older (in preparation)
Policy audiences for this work
- Administration for Community Living, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Social Security Administration
- Senate Special Committee on Aging staff
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
- State adult protective services agencies
- Area Agencies on Aging
Other issue areas
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Household Financial Stability
Issue area · Fraud and Scams
Fraud and Scam Losses
Issue area · Financial Education
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Issue area · Financial Education Measurement
Behavioral Measurement in Personal-Finance Education
Issue area · FinTech Regulation
FinTech Regulatory Frameworks
Issue area · FinTech Consumer Protection
FinTech Consumer Protection
Issue area · CBDC and Digital Money
Digital Monetary Instrument Adoption