美国人正在减少退休储蓄。专家称这是一个“警示信号”


2026年3月31日 美国东部时间下午2:47 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻(CBS News)

作者:艾米·皮奇(Aimee Picchi)

薪资服务商Dayforce的最新研究显示,美国人在退休筹备方面正在倒退,去年员工对其401(k)账户的年度缴款有所减少。

研究发现,全职员工的缴款比例从去年的9.2%降至2025年的8.9%,四分之一的员工减少了对401(k)或其他雇主赞助型账户的年度储蓄。这一下滑是Dayforce三年前开始追踪该数据以来的首次下降,在年收入5万至10万美元的员工中降幅最为明显。

Dayforce全球可持续发展与影响力负责人杰森·拉兰(Jason Rahlan)对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻表示,这一下滑可能反映出美国中产阶级面临的财务压力,部分员工削减退休缴款以增加到手收入。该分析还发现,去年近20%的全职员工从其401(k)计划中申请贷款,为该公司开始追踪该数据以来的最高比例。

“这应该是一个警示信号,”拉兰对哥伦比亚广播公司新闻说道,“这可能是财务紧张的迹象,”他指出,员工们搁置了退休目标,转而关注更紧迫的预算问题。

保险公司安联人寿(Allianz Life)去年12月的一项研究显示,约一半的美国人表示,进入2026年时他们的财务压力比一年前更大。分析发现,日常开支是最主要的担忧来源。

“正在目睹这场危机”

专注于金融问题的非营利组织金融健康网络(Financial Health Network)副总裁马特·巴尔(Matt Bahl)指出,尽管退休缴款的降幅相对较小,但如果这一趋势持续下去,从长远来看可能会产生“切实影响”,因为整个职业生涯持续储蓄至关重要。该组织为这份报告提供了支持。

“当你每日都在为生计挣扎时,很难专注于长期目标,”巴尔说道,“我们确实看到了中低收入者的危机——这反映了负担能力危机。”

拉兰和巴尔表示,今年退休储蓄的下降趋势可能会持续,他们指出,有预测显示,由于伊朗战争导致全球油价上涨,美国家庭今年的汽油支出将增加740美元。

其他金融研究也佐证了Dayforce的发现。例如,退休规划巨头先锋集团(Vanguard)今年3月发现,去年美国人动用退休储蓄账户支付紧急开支的比例创下新高。2025年,先锋集团管理的401(k)计划参与者中有6%从账户中提取了所谓的困难取款,高于2024年的5%。

从退休账户贷款与困难取款略有不同,前者无需缴税和缴纳罚款,但贷款必须偿还给退休账户。相比之下,困难取款——可用于医疗费用、避免丧失抵押品赎回权或被驱逐等紧急情况——无需偿还。

代际差异

Dayforce发现,去年大多数员工的退休计划缴款总额和储蓄率均出现下降,无论年龄如何,包括婴儿潮一代、X世代和千禧一代。

但有一代人逆势而上:该公司的分析显示,1995年至2009年出生的Z世代员工。尽管他们的退休计划储蓄率往往低于年长员工,但他们是唯一提高缴款比例的一代人,典型的Z世代员工的缴款比例从2024年的5.9%升至去年的6.2%。

“他们是所有代际中储蓄率和缴款比例增幅最大的群体,”拉兰说道。

巴尔表示,年轻员工可能从年长一代的错误中吸取了教训,尤其是那些最早随着退休制度从养老金转向401(k)计划而进入职场的人,在401(k)计划中,缴款和投资决策的责任在于员工自身。

“他们从美国年长一代的正确和错误行为中都学到了东西,”他说道。

编辑:阿兰·谢特(Alain Sherter)

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/record-number-of-americans-making-emergency-401k-withdrawals/

Americans are reducing their retirement savings. That’s a “warning sign,” experts say.

2026-03-31 2:47 PM EDT / CBS News

By Aimee Picchi

Americans are sliding backward in preparing for retirement, with employees reducing their annual contributions to their 401(k) accounts last year, according to new research from payroll firm Dayforce.

Full-time workers cut their contribution rate in 2025 to 8.9%, from 9.2% a year earlier, while one in four workers reduced their annual savings in their 401(k) or other types of employer-sponsored accounts, the study found. The dip — the first decline since Dayforce began tracking the measure three years ago — was sharpest among workers with annual income of $50,000 to $100,000.

That decline may point to the financial pressures on middle-class Americans, with some cutting retirement contributions to boost take-home pay, Jason Rahlan, global head of sustainability and impact at Dayforce, told CBS News. The analysis also found that almost 20% of full-time workers tapped their 401(k) plans for loans last year — the highest share since the company started tracking the data.

“This should be a warning sign,” Rahlan told CBS News. “It may be a sign of financial strain,” pointing to workers setting aside their retirement goals to focus on more immediate budget issues.

About half of Americans said they were more financially stressed heading into 2026 than a year earlier, according to a December study from insurance firm Allianz Life. Covering day-to-day expenses was the biggest source of concern, the analysis found.

“Seeing the crunch”

Although the dip in retirement contributions is relatively small, it could result in a “real impact over the long term” if that trend continues, given the importance of continuously saving throughout one’s career, noted Matt Bahl, vice president at the Financial Health Network, a nonprofit focused on financial issues that contributed to the report.

“When you are struggling day to day, it’s hard to focus on your long-term goals,” Bahl said. “We’re really seeing the crunch for those middle-income earners — it speaks to the affordability crisis.”

The decline in retirement savings is likely to continue this year, Rahlan and Bahl said, pointing to projections showing that households will spend an additional $740 on gasoline this year due to the jump in global oil prices stemming from the Iran war.

Other financial research supports Dayforce’s findings. In March, for example, retirement planning giant Vanguard found that a record share of Americans tapped their retirement savings accounts last year to cover emergency expenses. In 2025, 6% of people enrolled in 401(k) plans managed by Vanguard made so-called hardship withdrawals from their accounts, up from 5% in 2024.

Loans from retirement accounts are slightly different from hardship withdrawals, as the former don’t incur taxes and penalties. But loans must be repaid to the retirement account. By contrast, hardship withdrawals — which can be made for emergencies such as medical treatment or to avoid foreclosure or eviction — don’t need to be repaid.

Generational differences

Total retirement plan contributions and savings rates declined for most employees last year regardless of their age, including baby boomers, Gen Xers and millennials, Dayforce found.

However, one generation bucked the trend: Gen Z workers, who were born between 1995 and 2009, the firm’s analysis found. While their retirement plan savings rate tends to be lower than that of older workers, they were the only generation to boost their contributions, with the typical Gen Z employee increasing their contribution rate to 6.2% last year from 5.9% in 2024, Dayforce found.

“They have experienced the greatest gains of any generation in participation savings rate and contributions,” Rahlan said.

Younger workers may have learned from the mistakes of older generations, especially those who were the first to enter the workforce as the retirement system shifted from pensions to 401(k) plans, where the onus is on workers to make contributions and investment decisions, Bahl said.

“They learned from both the good and bad behaviors” of older Americans, he said.

Edited by Alain Sherter

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/record-number-of-americans-making-emergency-401k-withdrawals/

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