Millennials are starting to save early for retirement, but they're not saving enough.
That's according to a survey by the Principal Financial Group that found that while 63 percent of millennials polled started saving for retirement before the age of 25, only 30 percent are saving 10 percent or more in an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
That's despite the fact that 74 percent said they believed they should save more than 10 percent.
Recommended For You
With almost a third of millennials polled stating that they expect to live into their 80s and 8 percent indicating that they expect to break 100, having enough money for retirement sounds as if it might well be a big issue down the line.
Thirty percent of millennials stated that they expect to be fully retired for 11 to 20 years, and almost a quarter said that they expect to be retired for 21 to 30 years.
Despite understanding the importance of saving, millennials reported that they found certain elements of the financial landscape intimidating, including 29 percent that found retirement planning to be so. Other "intimidating" topics were the stock market (37 percent) student loan debt (29 percent) and healthcare costs during retirement (29 percent).
However, nearly two-thirds of the millennials polled said that they had worked with a financial professional to try to meet their financial goals. Better yet, 56 percent said that they had met with one to determine the status of their financial situation.
More than 80 percent found that meeting with a financial professional made them feel somewhat or much more comfortable about their finances.
The study found some disparity in the desire of millennials to have complete financial independence vs. the reality. While 84 percent of millennials responded that an adult should be completely financially independent by the age of 25, some still reported having bills that their parents covered for them.
The most common bill millennials said their parents were paying was the cell phone bill, at 12 percent. Eight percent said their parents still paid their car insurance, 7 percent said their parents still paid health insurance, while 7 percent said their parents still covered their rent.
Despite that, 60 percent of the millennials polled said they expected to be more financially well off than their parents.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
