About 19% of Americans 65 and older rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income.
Credit: Getty Images Key Takeaways
Social Security’s share of older Americans’ income climbs with age, reaching 40% among those 80 and older.
Most older adults supplement Social Security with wages, pensions, retirement funds, and income from assets.
You may envision relying on Social Security during retirement, but the data shows older adults tend to depend on other income sources.
About 19% of Americans 65 and older rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income, according to a 2025 Congressional Research Service report. Other sources fill the gap, according to the analysis: wages, pension and retirement fund payments, along with income from assets. The report matched individual tax records with survey responses.
All told, Social Security accounted for 30% of income among Americans 65 and older, with wages contributing 27%, pensions and retirement funds 24%, and asset income 12%, the report found. The last category includes interest and dividends, as well as income from renting out property or owning a business.
Why This Matters to Consumers
Many Americans plan to work well into their 60s, but end up retiring sooner due to health problems and other setbacks. Building up retirement and investment accounts can help provide a cushion when your retirement timeline shifts.
Social Security takes on a bigger role as people age, though it never becomes older Americans’ main source of income at any age. Social Security accounted for 19% of income among 65- to 69-year-olds, climbing to 40% among those 80 and older. (To be sure, many Americans are more likely to rely on Social Security, including lower-income households, single adults, as well as Black and Latin Americans.)
The report relies on 2019 data, but there’s little reason to think retirement trends have changed much. Research has consistently shown that most older adults don’t get 90% or more of their income from Social Security, and that Americans tend to understate their income from pensions and retirement funds.
Still, many Americans are counting on Social Security to anchor their finances in later life. About 70% of U.S. adults surveyed expect to collect Social Security benefits and 32% anticipate the payments will be their “primary” source of income, according to research published last summer by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
The Social Security trustees project that the program’s main retirement trust fund, OASI, will be depleted in 2033, with payroll taxes covering only about 77% of scheduled benefits at that point. After the One Big Beautiful Bill Act became law in July 2025, the Social Security Administration’s chief actuary moved that estimate up to 2032.
Americans now rank Social Security cuts as their second-biggest retirement fear, behind needing long-term care for declining health, the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies said.
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