Half of Americans Think They'll Live to 100. Their Retirement Plans Say Otherwise

Americans increasingly expect to live to 100 (and increasingly fear they can’t afford to). Two in three (67%) now say they worry more about running out of money than about death itself, according to Allianz’s 2026 Annual Retirement Study, a record high, up 10 percentage points from 57% in 2022.

That anxiety collides with a hard reality: many Americans are planning for a retirement far shorter than the one they may actually live. Half of Americans (50%) believe they could live to age 100, and almost as many (49%) say they want to, according to research from Corebridge Financial. Yet there is a disconnect regarding retirement spans. A total of 39% of working Americans expect to retire before age 65, per the study. Despite this, half of American workers expect to spend 20 years or less in retirement, even though many will realistically retire after 30 years or more with their employer.

The results suggest that while Americans are keen to live longer, many are not factoring in “longevity risk”, the possibility of outliving one’s savings.

Financial advisors share insights based on their client conversations on how to prepare for a multi-decade retirement.

The Long Game

Retirement spending is commonly thought of as linear. ‘Golden rules’ like the “4% rule” are go-to guidelines for spending down nest eggs incrementally. Yet planning for a multi-decade retirement requires rethinking the assumptions about how retirement spending works.

“The mistake I see most is treating retirement spending as a flat line, the same inflation-adjusted number every year from 65 to 100,” says Jim Crider, a financial advisor at Intentional Living Financial Planning. “Real spending doesn’t behave that way.”

Crider describes it as an inverted arc: the retirement spending smile. Spending starts out high in the early post-work “go-go” years, then declines in real terms through the “slow-go” 70s as the passport gets less use, before curving back up late in life as healthcare costs climb.

That’s why Crider recommends his clients plan in phases.

“Fund the early years generously, because that’s when your money buys experiences your body can still do,” he says. “Remember, there’s no rain check on hiking with the grandkids at 90.”

Marcel Miu, a financial advisor at Simplify Wealth Planning, emphasizes flexibility. “Longevity is a financial blessing if you build an adaptive plan, but a curse if you follow a rigid one.”

“Planning for a 100-year life is about building an adaptive system that treats retirement as a series of mid-course corrections,” he says.

Miu recommends staying responsive to the “financial thermostat” and dynamically adjusting spending up or down within clear guardrails.

The assumption that trips people up first, though, is how long the plan needs to last. “The trouble is most people mentally anchor to the age a parent or sibling died and assume it’ll be the same for them, which is why the most expensive number in retirement planning is the age you assume you’ll die,” says Lucas Fender, a financial advisor at Proper Planning & Wealth Management. “A longevity estimate built on your own health and family history turns that guess into a more realistic planning horizon.”

Keep Growing

Traditionally, new retirees pivot from fast-growth, risk-on stocks to US Treasury bonds and other less-risky assets, balancing their portfolios to ensure a more stable, predictable income in retirement.

A 60-40 mix of equities to bonds was long considered the gold standard for retirees, balancing income with capital growth.

However, as life expectancies reach the three-digit mark, extended exposure to growth assets becomes necessary. While cyclical market downturns (or even market collapses) are nearly certain over the period, with decades of retirement yet to live, there is time to recover.

“The biggest mistake I see is becoming too conservative too early,” says Brett Hina, a financial advisor at Cornerstone Private Wealth Partners. “Retirement may last 30 years or more, so retirees still need growth in their portfolios to keep up with inflation.”

Richard Siminou, a financial advisor at Siminou Wealth Management, has watched the risk play out. “Longevity risk is real, and I’ve seen it play out firsthand,” he says. “I had a client who significantly underestimated how long their money would last. By the time we sat down to reassess, the gap between their income needs and their portfolio’s trajectory was uncomfortable.” His response was to lean further into growth, “increasing allocation to growth-oriented equities, incorporating dividend aristocrat strategies for compounding income, and taking advantage of short-term U.S. Treasuries when they were paying close to 5% back in 2022.”

“The primary challenge is the erosion of purchasing power from decades of compounding inflation,” says Miu. “Data shows long-term US inflation averages 3% per year, halving your purchasing power in just 24 years. This means a centenarian’s portfolio needs growth assets even well into their 80s and 90s, completely upending the traditional rule of shifting entirely into safe, low-yielding investments.”

Not every advisor’s answer is simply more stocks. Michael Rosenberg, a financial advisor at Diversified Investment Strategies, argues that a long life calls for a guaranteed floor beneath growth. He says retirees “should consider building a retirement income plan around a reliable baseline of guaranteed income.” “If someone has a pension, that may help provide part of that foundation. If not, I often suggest considering whether a portion of their assets should be allocated to an annuity designed to provide guaranteed lifetime income, shifting some of the longevity and investment risk to an insurance company,” he says, while “other assets should still be positioned for moderate growth to help offset inflation over time.”

Spend it Meaningfully

Yet planning for retirement isn’t just about avoiding longevity risk. In his bestselling book “Die With Zero,” Bill Perkins argues that the goal isn’t to die with the largest possible portfolio, but to deliberately convert wealth into meaningful life experiences while you can still enjoy them. For retirees expecting a century-long life, striking a balance between saving for the future and spending for today is vital.

For Brennan Decima, a financial advisor at Decima Wealth Consulting, the longest-lived clients tend to reframe what the money is even for. “The oldest client I’ve ever worked with was 112 years old,” he says, and those meetings, he adds, had little to do with portfolio performance or taxes. “I usually walked out of the meetings feeling like I learned more than I taught.” The work, he says, “was mainly around making sure wealth became a blessing, not a burden.”

“Longevity is a blessing, but you have to fund it on purpose,” says Crider. “The real risk isn’t only outliving your money. It’s the quieter tragedy of dying with too much of it, having skipped the trip or the gift because a spreadsheet told you to plan to 100 as though every year costs the same. It doesn’t. Plan for a long life, but don’t sacrifice the good years to ensure against the gray ones.”

As longevity increases, living to 100 is becoming a baked-in assumption for effective end-of-life financial planning. This changes almost every rule of retirement, from when to retire to how much to save, invest, and spend. The challenge for today’s workers is not simply reaching 100, but ensuring they have the flexibility, growth, and confidence to enjoy the journey along the way.