About half of all Florida voters aged 50-64 say they fear they’ll never be able to retire, and large majorities say they’ll have to rely more heavily on Social Security and Medicare than they expected, according to a new survey by AARP released Wednesday.
Most Florida voters in that age range also say the presidential candidates have done a poor job explaining what they plan to do in terms of Social Security and Medicare spending.
“They’re worried about their future, and they want to know what the candidates would do to alleviate their worries,” said Jeff Johnson, AARP’s Florida state director.
The poll also creates a new AARP “Anxiety Index,” measuring the degree to which people over 50 worry about various things.
The biggest anxiety they have right now, according to the poll, is prices rising faster than incomes, which 70 percent of those surveyed say they worry about “somewhat or very often.”
Non-retired boomer voters in Florida are pessimistic about retirement. Nearly 70 percent said they believe they will have to delay retirement, the same percentage are somewhat or very worried they won’t have enough money in retirement, and 51 percent worry they will never be able to retire.
