Seven in 10 Americans view a pension as better than a 401(k), according to WalletHub survey results published Aug. 31.
The personal finance website polled more than 240 Americans online and normalized the data by gender and income to reflect U.S. demographics.
Health system 401(k) matches vary widely, from 4% to 7% among systems on Becker’s 2026 ranking of top places to work in healthcare, while the average U.S. employer match across industries is roughly 4.7% of eligible salary, according to a Vanguard analysis.
Here are five things to know from the survey:
1. More than a third of respondents, 34%, are not confident they will have enough money to retire, while 66% said they are confident.
2. Forty-three percent of respondents said it is not realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably, versus 57% who said it is realistic.
3. Debt is competing directly with retirement savings for many households. Forty-five percent of respondents said paying off debt is more important than making retirement contributions, compared with 55% who prioritized contributions.
4. Inflation was cited most often as the biggest threat to respondents’ ability to retire, named by 27%, followed by their own financial decisions (24%), the job market (20%), the stock market (17%) and Social Security benefits (12%).
5. More than half of respondents, 53%, said they would rather pay a 12.4% Social Security tax in exchange for double the benefits than continue paying 6.2% for current benefit levels.
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