Baby Boomer Voters Driven by Retirement Concerns

Nearly three-fourths (72%) believe they will have to delay retirement, and nearly two-thirds (65%) worry they will not have enough to retire.  Half of these voters (50%) do not think they will ever be able to retire. They overwhelmingly (59%) believe the recent economic downturn will force them to rely more on Social Security and Medicare.  

Anxiety about retirement security is a main driver for all voters 50+.  Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) retired voters 50+ worry about prices rising faster than their incomes, and nearly half (48%) worry about having unaffordable health expenses, despite the relative security provided by Medicare.  Only four-in-ten (42%) African-American voters 50+ are confident that they will have enough money to live comfortably throughout their retirement.  Hispanic voters 50+ overwhelmingly say that the recent economic downturn negatively impacted their personal circumstances (84%) and will force them to rely more on Social Security and Medicare (69%).  

All voters age 50+ want the candidates to better explain their plans for Social Security and Medicare. They think the candidates have not done a good job of explaining their plans on Social Security (67%) and Medicare (63%).  Moving forward, these voters – across party lines – say that getting more information on the candidates’ plans on Social Security (72%) and Medicare (70%) will help them determine their vote on election day.  

Respondents think the next president and Congress need to strengthen Social Security (91%) and Medicare (88%).  They also overwhelmingly (91%) think that these issues are too big for either party to fix alone — they require Republicans and Democrats to come together.