Retirement Readiness and Planning Confidence Survey

Thanks for taking a few minutes to reflect on your retirement planning. Your responses are completely confidential and anonymized. There are no right or wrong answers here — we're just trying to understand how prepared people feel and what would actually help. About 5 minutes.

Which of the following retirement savings vehicles do you currently contribute to?

• Employer-sponsored plan (e.g., 401(k), pension)
• Individual retirement account (e.g., IRA, Roth IRA)
• Taxable brokerage or investment account
• Real estate or property investments
• Business ownership or equity

How confident are you that your current savings and investments will be enough to maintain your desired lifestyle in retirement?

At what age do you currently expect to retire?

How much do you agree with each of the following statements about your own retirement plan?

Rank these retirement concerns from most to least worrying for you personally.

1. Outliving my savings
2. Healthcare or long-term care costs
3. Market volatility affecting my nest egg
4. Inflation eroding purchasing power
5. Uncertainty about Social Security or public pensions
6. Having to financially support family members

In the last 12 months, where have you gotten advice or information about your retirement plan?

• A paid financial advisor or planner
• My employer or HR/benefits team
• Online tools or retirement calculators
• Family or friends
• Social media or online content creators
• I haven't sought advice

If you had 100 points to divide across where you should be focusing your retirement planning effort right now, how would you split them?

• Saving more each month
• Choosing better investments/allocation
• Planning for healthcare costs
• Estate and legacy planning
• Tax-efficient withdrawal planning

Probe the gap between the respondent's stated confidence level and their actual plan knowledge from the matrix statements. If confidence is high but knowledge items were weak, dig into what's driving the false confidence (e.g., trust in an advisor they haven't talked to recently, not knowing what they don't know). If confidence is low, find out specifically which unknown — savings target, fees, income drawdown — is causing the most anxiety, and what kind of help (tool, advisor, employer resource) they'd actually use to resolve it.

Which age range do you fall into?

• Under 30
• 30–39
• 40–49
• 50–59
• 60–69
• 70 or older
• Prefer not to say

What is your approximate annual household income?

• Under $40,000
• $40,000–$74,999
• $75,000–$124,999
• $125,000–$199,999
• $200,000 or more
• Prefer not to say

Which best describes your current employment status?

• Employed full-time
• Employed part-time
• Self-employed
• Unemployed / between jobs
• Retired
• Prefer not to say

That's everything — thank you for your honesty. Your responses will be pooled into a report on retirement confidence and knowledge gaps, used to shape more useful planning resources and advice.