Retirees Fear Tariff-Driven Inflation Draining Savings, per Nationwide

Half of surveyed retirees said they are “terrified” over how tariffs drive the cost of living higher than their retirement income from Social Security or savings could cover, according to new research from by the Nationwide Retirement Institute.

A majority of surveyed retirees—63%—also told researches that they expect tariffs would make inflation higher than the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment for 2026, which was recently predicted to be 2.7% by the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan group.

The Social Security COLA was 8.7% in 2023, the largest yearly increase in 40 years, followed by 3.2% in 2024 and 2.5% in 2025, but benefits recipients are still feeling the pinch from inflation. Nationwide found that 52% of surveyed Social Security recipients have cut back on discretionary spending like travel and dining out, and 31% have cut back on essential items like groceries and medications. Almost one-third of current recipients (29%) said they have had to dip into savings or retirement accounts in response to rising living costs.

Most benefits recipients responded that they feel financially precarious, as 61% said they “could not financially survive” if they missed half of a monthly Social Security payment.

Nationwide also polled a broader population sample on retirement savings, consisting of 28% Baby Boomers (ages 61 or older), 28% Generation X (ages 45 to 60), 28% Millennials (ages 29 to 44) and 16% Generation Z. More than half of all respondents shared concerns that tariffs could impact their retirement savings. Seven out of 10 responding nonretirees agreed that tariffs would lead to inflation that would outpace Social Security COLAs.

The U.S. Department of Commerce expanded tariffs Tuesday, announcing that 407 new product categories will be subject to steel and aluminum product tariffs. The same day, The Home Depot’s chief financial officer said in a conference call that tariffs could cause “modest” price increases for some home-improvement products.

While a recently released report by the Transamerica Institute found that 69% of respondents expect Social Security to be a source of retirement income, Nationwide’s respondents were pessimistic on whether it would be sufficient. Asked if Social Security could cover basic needs in retirement, 55% of current recipients and 57% who expected to receive benefits in the future, disagreed.

Nationwide also found that 83% of respondents were concerned about Social Security’s long-term survival, 74% thought it would run out of funding during their lifetime, and 22% said they “will not get a dime” of Social Security benefits. Even if they did receive benefits, 61% thought they would need to continue working.