Time for a pop quiz: Do you know what percentage of the US adult population identifies as single? We’ll give you a moment.

Turns out it’s almost half (46%), according to the US Census Bureau, and this sizable population segment reports meaningful financial satisfaction. A new survey from Ameriprise found that nine in 10 single adults feel a sense of accomplishment regarding their finances, and nearly all have experienced monetary benefits from financial independence. Conversely, the vast majority contested common misconceptions about single adults, including that they are lonely, live less fulfilling lives or are less financially secure. It’s important for advisors to understand these nuances, said Deana Healy, vice president of financial planning and advice at Ameriprise, less they risk alienating this large (and lucrative) client segment.

“Financially solo adults across generations are making solid progress toward their goals, including saving for retirement,” Healy told Retirement Upside. At the same time, navigating aging alone is no mean feat. For many singles, making a clear plan and getting guidance from a financial advisor is essential for maintaining a strong financial footing.

A Nuanced Marketplace

In the survey’s sample of 3,000 solo adults, the biggest group was single and had never been married (52%), followed by divorced individuals (34%) and survivors of a marriage in which one member of the couple had died (15%). “There are nuances to advising each of these population subsegments,” Healy said. Widows, for example, are in a very different position from someone who’s never been married in terms of the financial challenges they face. One important throughline across these groups is that most want to remain financially independent:

• More than three-quarters (76%) expect to remain solo financially long-term.
• Eight in 10 would keep finances separate even if they partnered with someone.

“I think people come to enjoy their ability to make financial decisions for themselves without needing to balance that against a spouse or partner,” Healy said. Notably, widowed adults are the likeliest to want someone to share financial decisions with. “This likely reflects how those choices can feel heavier and more complex after the loss of a spouse.”

Help Wanted. When asked about the most challenging decisions to make solo, respondents cited investing, taxes, major purchases and retirement planning. Macroeconomic pressures add another layer of uncertainty, especially inflation and the high cost of health care.

“Advisors taking on new single clients should check to see if they have put essential long‑term plans in place,” Healy said. “Many haven’t.” Only about one‑third of survey respondents have a current will. Protection against long-term risks is also limited, with just 29% holding long‑term care insurance and 34% carrying long‑term disability coverage. Essential legal safeguards are also often missing, as fewer than half have updated key legal documents, such as a health care directive or financial power of attorney.

Better late than never. Maybe not.

The annual Social Security Trustees Report is required by law to be issued by April 1. This deadline is frequently missed, however, with reports in recent years typically released in May, June or even as late as August. When exactly this year’s report will land is unclear, but what’s all too clear is what it will show: Social Security is on a collision course with insolvency, and recent actions by Congress have probably made the situation even worse, according to Jason Fichtner, a former Social Security official and executive director of the LIMRA Retirement Income Institute. The program isn’t on track to simply collapse, fortunately, but substantial benefit cuts are coming unless lawmakers do something about it. Those cuts could impact retirement planning for millions of clients across the country.

“I’d expect the 2026 Trustees Report to have an [Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund] depletion date of 2032, especially given the recent passage of the Social Security Fairness Act,” Fichtner told Retirement Upside. That law, passed in early 2025, repealed the program’s Windfall Elimination Provision and Government Pension Offset that reduced benefit payments for some government workers, hastening the projected depletion date by six to 12 months. “There’s a chance, if recent changes to immigration are taken into account, that the depletion date could move up to 2031,” he said. “We’ll see.”

When (and What) Will It Show?

Speculation in Washington is that the 2026 report will come out sometime in June, Fichtner said, noting a late report isn’t surprising. These days, an on-time report would be more of a surprise, as that’s only happened once in the past five years. Last year’s report showed:

• The estimated OASI trust fund depletion date was 2033, with 81% of benefits payable at that time.
• Combining the retirement benefit trust fund with the disability insurance trust fund, however, could buy an extra year of solvency.

Worse Than All That? One more thing to keep in mind is that the demographic and economic assumptions factoring into the Trustees Report are supposed to be current through the end of the prior year. “The global and economic ups and downs of the first quarter of 2026 will not be included in the assumptions for the 2026 report,” Fichtner warned. “Also, the long-term estimates are sensitive to economic growth projections, as well as fertility rates and immigration. It will be interesting to see if the trustees have made any long-term changes to the assumptions.”

With tens of millions of Americans having no money in retirement accounts, eliminating the savings gap is daunting. State-run IRAs may be changing the game.

They collectively held more than $3 billion in retirement savings at the end of April, a new record, according to data from the Center for Retirement Initiatives at Georgetown University, and the pace at which assets are flowing into them is picking up. Plus, auto-enrollment programs have been linked to an uptick of as much as 35% in 401(k) adoption among small businesses, according to Angela Antonelli, executive director of CRI.

“The state programs have had a really positive impact on catalyzing new program formation,” she told Advisor Upside. “We’re moving the needle to close the access gap through a combination of both the state programs along with new private plans.”

Cross Country

Currently, roughly 1.2 million workers who don’t have access to a 401(k) contribute to auto-enrollment IRAs across 15 states:

• California’s program is by far the largest, with total assets nearing $1.8 billion in April, a nearly 50% increase year-over-year, per Georgetown data.
• That’s followed by programs in Oregon, Illinois and Colorado with total assets of roughly $490 million, $345 million and $215 million, respectively.
• The programs generally serve lower-earning Americans, who contribute on average $100 to $120 to the account each month.

“That may sound like a small amount, but for lower-income workers, that can help them feel more financially secure,” Antonelli said. She added that for young people who might be moving from job to job, the programs provide a way to instill savings habits. “Because of that experience and starting to save early and learning through the state program, they’re going to be much more likely to take advantage of the retirement benefits that a future employer is going to offer to them.”

D.C. Plans. The federal government is planning to launch a similar program, the TrumpIRA, next year, but there are key differences. The TrumpIRA would rely on voluntary rather than automatic enrollment, a feature that has made state programs highly effective, Antonelli said. Plus, the first Trump administration shut down the federally run MyRA program in 2017, so it will be interesting to see how the new program differs.

“The action by the administration to recognize that there’s a significant number of private sector workers who lack access is a great first step,” she said. “How both employers and workers will view the TrumpIRA program, absent of any mandate, absent any auto-enrollment, and who will choose to take advantage of that still remains to be seen.”