New research suggests that for millions of retirees without a pension, money disappears faster than expected when a critical source of income is missing. The Employee Benefit Research Institute published findings on May 15, 2026, examining how household savings shift over the course of more than 20 years of retirement.
The data reveal a severe gap between retirees who receive steady pension income and those who rely entirely on their savings balances.
Retirees relying solely on a withdrawable balance may face greater asset depletion than those with guaranteed income, the EBRI research suggests.
The divide between financial stability and near-total depletion traces back to a single structural difference that most future retirees will lack.
Low-asset retirees without pension income lost 89% of their savings
EBRI’s report drew on longitudinal data from the 1992 to 2022 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to track net nonhousing assets over the retirement period. The starkest finding concerned retirees in the lowest asset group, who entered retirement with a median net nonhousing wealth of $34,089.
More than half of the low-asset group overall, regardless of pension status, had roughly $17,000 or less in nonhousing assets after 21 to 22 years of retirement, according to EBRI.
Retirees in the same wealth bracket who received defined-benefit pension income experienced a far more manageable 29% decline over the same period.
That 60-percentage-point gap illustrates how a steady, guaranteed income stream can buffer against the financial shocks that erode savings in late retirement.
EBRI data reveals retirement asset declines across all wealth levels
The erosion of retirement savings was not limited to the lowest-wealth households, though consequences varied sharply depending on starting balances and income sources. Across all three asset tiers that EBRI examined, median household net nonhousing assets dropped significantly over two decades of retirement.
Median asset declines by wealth group over 21–22 years of retirement
- Low-asset households saw median net nonhousing assets fall by 43% over their first 21 to 22 years of retirement.
- Middle-asset households experienced a 30% median decline over the same timeframe, displaying a noticeably smoother drawdown pattern than the lowest tier.
- High-asset households lost 42% of their median starting assets, but their larger initial balances left a substantially greater financial cushion for late-life expenses.
The figures above are drawn from the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s findings.
Defined benefit access fell from 20% in 2010 to just 14%, leaving retirees exposed
The EBRI findings carry particular urgency because the pension landscape has shifted dramatically in the decades since the study’s cohort entered retirement.
Only 14% of private industry workers had access to a defined benefit plan as of March 2025, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed.
That figure stood at 70% for defined contribution plans like 401(k)s, which place investment risk and withdrawal decisions on individual workers. Future retirees will enter their post-working years without the guaranteed income stream that shielded many households in the EBRI study from depletion.
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The report also noted that the cohort examined in the study benefited from relatively high rates of defined benefit pension coverage across all asset groups. That characteristic is unlikely to persist for the next generation of retirees, who will depend almost entirely on self-directed savings accounts and Social Security benefits.
Social Security provides a stable lifetime income, but the report cautioned that it alone may not sustain a comfortable standard of living for low-wealth retirees.
“As more retirees rely on defined contribution plans rather than traditional pensions, understanding how savings can be converted into sustainable income will become increasingly important for employers, plan providers, policymakers, and retirees themselves,” Leslie Muller, PhD., the EBRI senior research associate, noted.
Guaranteed income products may fill the pension gap for future retirees
The EBRI report identified financial products that could replicate the stabilizing effect of defined benefit pensions for workers who will never access traditional plans.
Immediate annuities, deferred income annuities, qualified longevity annuity contracts, and guaranteed lifetime withdrawal benefits were all cited as potential replacements for income streams.
People are not only worried about whether they have saved enough, but also about how rising costs, health care needs and policy changes could reshape retirement itself. The results show a clear need for more guidance, better planning tools and solutions that help people turn savings into lasting financial security.
Those products are gaining traction in the retirement planning industry, though adoption remains uneven and is often hampered by their complexity.
“Annuities continue to face perception issues due to high fees, complexity, lack of transparency, and concerns about insurer solvency, all of which deter plan participants,” said Idin Eftekhari, who was a senior analyst at Cerulli Associates at the time.
What the EBRI retirement findings signal for future retirees
The central lesson from the EBRI research is that how retirees receive their income matters just as much as the total amount they managed to save. Athene’s 2026 Retirement Outlook estimated a $4 trillion retirement savings gap nationwide, with approximately 12,000 Americans reaching retirement age each day, the firm reported.
The EBRI findings suggest that the structure of retirement income, not just total savings, shapes whether assets last through later retirement. For millions of Americans approaching retirement without a pension, understanding that distinction could determine whether their savings endure throughout retirement or are depleted.
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