retirees reveal their biggest retirement regrets

• Key insight: See how unexpected workforce exits are forcing today’s retirees to rethink past financial choices.
• What’s at stake: Employees who change jobs risk losing employer-matched contributions and draining retirement savings.
• Looking ahead: Prepare half of the workforce from all generations who plan to work longer.
  Source: AI generated bullets with editorial review

Many retirees are rethinking the decisions they made before they left the workforce, a new study by the TIAA Institute found, with many wishing they had saved earlier and been better prepared for their health. other expenses in retirement.

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More than three-quarters (76%) of current retirees say they regret not starting to save earlier in life, while 71% wish they had saved more, according to TIAA’s Bridging the Gaps in Retirement Expectations report released Wednesday.

But savings were not the only source of regret. Almost half of retirees say they fell short in preparation key challenges of retirement, these include setting clear goals (47%), estimating health care and long-term care costs (49%), and planning for late-life events such as health problems, career changes, job loss, and caregiving responsibilities (49%).

These planning gaps may reflect the unexpected disruptions many retirees experience before leaving the workforce. More than half (51%) say they left their workforce for more than a year due to an unforeseen event.

“The retirees in this study send a clear and urgent message to everyone still in the workforce: What happens today will define your retirement tomorrow,” said Surya Kolluri, head of the TIAA Institute. “A retirement that meets or exceeds expectations requires planning for all the things you enjoy and the unexpected. Our research shows that having the right tools at your disposal and the right guidance at the right time leads to better preparation, more confidence and fewer regrets.”

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The research was conducted by Ipsos in July 2025 and is based on a survey of nearly 1,600 US adults.

The growing gap between plans and reality

Kolluri said one of the report’s biggest findings was the five-year gap between expected and actual retirement ages: current retirees retired at an average of 57, while future retirees expect to retire at 62.

“It is important to emphasize that this gap can be due to various reasons, including those related to health, care or job relocation,” he said. “This may be more about temporary departure from the workforce than retirement per se. These results are very important for proper planning and preparation.”

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Across all generations – from Gen Z to baby boomers – roughly half of the workforce expects to work longer than planned. Meanwhile, 62% of non-retirees say building an emergency cushion is a milestone they need to reach first. may also consider retirement, and 1 in 4 do not expect to retire at all.

“For employers, that means a workforce that wants to stay engaged longer, and honestly, that’s an opportunity, not just a challenge,” Kolluri said. “The key is to bring those workers together with flexible contracts and real financial support.”

Career interruptions can come at a cost

Research suggests that career breaks, caregiving responsibilities, and job changes may occur all undermine retirement savings. Half of US adults have been out of the workforce for more than a year, and that number rises to 65% among caregivers.

Job changes it may also come at a cost. More than three-quarters (77%) of workers have changed employers at least once, yet 1 in 4 quit before fully enrolling in a retirement plan, losing employer matching contributions. 1 in 5 cashed out their retirement savings completely when they changed jobs.

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“These aren’t passive failures, they’re gaps that plan design and education can directly address,” said Tim Pitney, TIAA’s director of lifetime income distribution. “Employers can make a significant difference by providing career interruption support, emergency savings accounts and guidance that prevents a job change from becoming a retirement setback.”