Retirement

Social Security is much more important to retired Americans than they thought it would be.

Worries that Medicare and Social Security will no longer be available in the future run high, especially among adults closer to the age of eligibility.

Half of U.S. nonretirees expect the Social Security system will pay them benefits when they retire, up from 45% in 2015 and 36% in 2010.

Nonretired Americans are more negative about retirement than they have been since 2012, while most retirees say they have enough money to live comfortably.

Americans are retiring at a later age than was the case in the 1990s and early 2000s. Working Americans also expect to work until an older age.

Four in five retirees in the U.S. say they have enough money to live comfortably, but far fewer, 53%, of nonretirees think they will too, when it comes time for them to retire.

Americans greatly value and depend on the Social Security system, even as estimates show it will face significant financial challenges within 15 years.