It takes about $1.5 million in 2026, a $200,000 year-over-year increase, to retire comfortably in the greater Tampa Bay region, according to a recent study by Northwestern Mutual.
The annual survey, which is conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the wealth management company, asked adults in 13 different U.S. markets about their long-term financial security.
In Tampa Bay, about half of the residents surveyed said they don't feel financially prepared for retirement, or they think it's likely they will "outlive their savings."
About three in four respondents, at 73%, said they anticipate waiting until 65 or older to retire.
Cost of living cuts into retirement savings
Dexter Wyckoff, a financial advisor for Northwestern Mutual in Sarasota, said that cost-of-living increases make it harder to save for the future.
"It's more expensive to live than [it] ever has been. It's more expensive to have children than it ever has been. And yet, we still have to save more money [than] we've ever had to save," he said.
As these financial pressures mount, Wyckoff said many consumers are faced with the choice of saving more, retiring later or working after retirement.
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Across most generations, the percentage of Americans planning to work after retirement increased year over year from 40% to 41%, according to the study.
As retirement horizons become more expensive and less predictable, Wyckoff said it's important to budget for uncertainty if you're goal is to stay retired.
"What ends up happening is: 'I didn't expect for gas to be $4.50 a gallon, and I'm in my seventies,' [or] 'I didn't expect property taxes to go up.' There was no algorithm for that," he said.
Angst over AI futures
Still, Wyckoff said that people are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for financial advice.
At the same time, workers with employer-backed retirement accounts are wondering how much of their money might be tied up in tech stocks.
Last week, as Axios reports, OpenAI posted lackluster revenue growth reports that rattled investors. Tech giants Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta also reported a record $130 billion in quarterly capital expenditures to build AI data centers, according to the New York Times.
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In response to some consumers' fears over a looming "AI bubble," undercutting workers' savings, Wyckoff said that it's happened before with the dot-com boom of the early 2000s.
However, with a lot of noise and speculation over AI futures, he said it's important to keep perspective.
"There's always going to be something. It'll be crypto, it'll be AI," he said. "There's things that are going to be available for us that will change the workforce or change the way we invest. I think at the end of the day, the fundamentals have it."
He said that's a diversified retirement portfolio and seeking professional financial advice to make sure that you're creating "alignment between reality and your savings."
About a third of Americans are pessimistic about the impact they believe AI will have on their careers. Gen Zers feel significantly worse with 46% reporting negative feelings about the technology, according to national survey findings.
Gabriella Paul covers the stories of people living paycheck to paycheck in the greater Tampa Bay region for WUSF. Here’s how you can share your story with her.
