A new report that updates previous studies from the National Council on Aging (NCOA) and LeadingAge LTSS Center @ UMass Boston reveals older adults with the fewest financial resources die, on average, nine years earlier than those with the greatest wealth.

NCOA and research partners at the LeadingAge LTSS Center @UMass Boston analyzed longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a well-respected and nationally representative panel study of middle-age and older adults, to assess the financial security of Americans age 60 and over. Analyzing data from 2018 to 2022, researchers found:

• Wealth is strongly associated with longevity. 
  Mortality rates among older adults in the bottom 60% of wealth were nearly double those of older adults in the top 20%. In fact, those in the bottom 20% of wealth died on average nine years earlier than those in the top 20%.
• Millions of older adults remain financially insecure.
  Over 19 million (45%) older adult households do not have the income needed to cover basic living costs based on cost-of-living data from the Elder Index. And 80%, or about 34 million households, are unable to weather a major shock such as widowhood, serious illness, or the need for long-term care.

More detail and analysis is available in the full report here.