AARP Survey: 4 in 5 Members Worried About Future of Social Security

More than 80 percent of AARP members say they’re either extremely or very worried about access to Social Security in the future — the most commonly cited concern among  the more than 20,000 respondents to our newly released survey.

That’s compared with 79 percent who said the same about Medicare benefits, 78 percent who worry about staying mentally sharp, and 77 percent concerned about fraud or identity theft. About half (49 percent) of respondents said they’re concerned about having enough money to retire.

We randomly reached out to members in all 50 states and the District of Columbia between May 20 and Aug. 18 of last year to gauge their perspectives and concerns, with surveys available online and by mail. Seventy percent of respondents said they hold a great or very good outlook on life, which echoes findings from another recent AARP survey — this one focused on all American adults age 50-plus, and not just AARP members — which found that 64 percent of older adults report having excellent or very good emotional well-being.

Still, 13 percent of AARP members described their circumstances as challenging or very challenging. More than 3 in 10 respondents (31 percent) said they’d experienced chronic health problems in the past two years, while 28 percent said they’d suffered a reduction in income, with 22 percent reporting a reduction in savings or assets.

Read the AARP member survey’s full findings.