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Three in five respondents to a survey released Monday by Ally Invest said they expected to rely on Social Security in retirement, but 59% doubted that benefits would be available to those now 50 and younger.
In the same survey, 65% said they found stock market investing scary and/or intimidating, four percentage points higher than in Ally's 2017 survey. Gen Z and millennial respondents expressed the most fear.
Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed said they worried about whether they were doing the right thing with regard to investing, up from 63% who felt this way in last year's poll.
"The survey results point to a serious dilemma: Most Americans don't see Social Security as a long-term solution, yet many are still banking on it for their retirement, so something's going to have to give," Ally Invest's president Rich Hagen said in a statement.
What strikes fear in the hearts of reluctant investors?
Not surprisingly, 52% said they did not want to lose money by making a bad investment. These included 72% of women surveyed and 65% of men, and more than 70% of Gen Z and millennial respondents.
