{"id":22123,"date":"2025-10-24T03:02:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:02:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=22123"},"modified":"2025-10-24T03:02:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T03:02:25","slug":"what-scares-people-more-retirement-or-a-dark-walk-in-the-woods-on-halloween-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=22123","title":{"rendered":"What Scares People More: Retirement or a Dark Walk in the Woods on Halloween Night?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

This October, we asked Boldin users a simple question:\u00a0 What\u2019s scarier \u2014 your retirement fears or walking alone in the woods on a dark Halloween night?<\/p>\n

Turns out, two-thirds (66%) said their worst retirement fears were<\/em> scarier<\/strong> than a creepy midnight stroll (before they had a plan). <\/strong>Only one-third would have rathered face the unknowns lurking in the shadows of rustling trees. And, it is retirement unknowns that cause the most fear.<\/p>\n

But when we dug deeper, we found that a written retirement plan can act as a powerful flashlight that illuminates those fears and makes them far less ominous.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty Can Be Terrifying<\/h2>\n

Before having a written retirement plan, the biggest fear by far was running out of money or outliving savings (39%)<\/strong>. Close behind were not being able to afford the life you want (19%)<\/strong> and not knowing how to plan for future unknowns (17%)<\/strong>, events like market crashes, inflation, or natural disasters.<\/p>\n

A smaller share worried about losing control and security (7%)<\/strong> or healthcare costs (6%)<\/strong>, but taken together, these responses paint a clear picture:<\/p>\n

For most people, uncertainty is the scariest thing of all.<\/p>\n

Retirement Fears Are Deeply Felt<\/h3>\n

And, before creating a plan, those retirement fears were deeply felt. Over 67% said their worries surfaced regularly<\/strong>. More than a quarter 26.7% said they \u201cweighed on them quite a bit<\/em>,\u201d 40.4% said that they were somewhat worried<\/em> and 25.5% were a little concerned<\/em>. Only 3% said they weren\u2019t worried at all.<\/p>\n

Finances Are the Biggest Monsters, But Non-Financial Fears Weigh Heavily Too<\/h2>\n

We asked survey respondents about whether their greatest retirement fears were related to money or general life fears like health and purpose. And, money weighs more heavily. Fifty-seven percent said that loss of financial control and security, outliving savings, healthcare costs, and other financial concerns were more significant than things like loss of purpose and declining health, which only 42% said were scarier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Of the non-financial fears<\/strong>, emotional and health-related concerns dominated:<\/p>\n