Are Birkin bags the new 401(k)? A survey from the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America found that 1 in 10 Americans believe that buying luxury handbags or winning the lottery might be a legitimate fallback retirement strategy. Sounds wild, but it actually says a lot about how uncertain many people feel about their financial futures.

Only 37 % of U.S. adults believe it’s realistic to retire between 65 and 70, according to the survey. Thirty percent say they aren’t confident they can cover day-to-day expenses for the rest of their lives. And with inflation outpacing cost‐of‐living adjustments and the job market getting rougher, it’s hard to feel financially secure even if you have a well-funded 401(k).

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This sense of desperation and diminished trust in traditional retirement planning tools explains why 1 in 10 Americans believes that luxury handbags or a stroke of lottery luck could underpin their retirement. When the benchmark goals like retiring at 65 feel out of reach, a lucky lottery win, a rare asset or an unconventional investment begins to look more appealing.

Plus, employer-sponsored retirement plans like 401(k)s come with their own set of flaws, like market risk and no guaranteed income. The TIAA survey found that Americans overwhelmingly desire a guaranteed retirement income source, with 92% interested in something beyond Social Security. When those guarantees are missing, it creates a vacuum that luxury handbags or high-risk bets try to fill, even though those assets offer little in the way of predictable income or longevity protection.

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A luxury handbag like a Birkin might hold its worth better than fast fashion, but it’s still a speculative bet and not a substitute for a diversified portfolio or a stable income stream in retirement.

Though 401(k)s may not be perfect, they’re an easy way to pay yourself first and save for the future. These employer-sponsored plans deduct money from their paychecks regularly to build a retirement nest egg, and are definitely worth considering if you don’t already have one. That said, relying solely on investments tied to the stock market can be risky. Mix it up with a combination of cash savings, bonds and income-generating assets like rental property to diversify your portfolio and spread out the risk.