Could Artificial Intelligence (AI) make it easier for seniors to enjoy a comfortable retirement?
Media speculation abounds on the efficiencies AI could offer retired Americans, from lower money management costs to improved healthcare diagnostics. Meanwhile, some market pundits have warned that a bursting AI bubble on Wall Street could ravage 401(k) savings and cost retirees dearly if they are overexposed to highly concentrated stock indices like the S&P 500.
AI’s untold potential makes it irresistible as a muse for futurists and tech titans, too. Elon Musk recently opined that long-term retirement savings are now pointless since a “supersonic tsunami” of AI will bring about a world of abundance. Could this seemingly far-fetched scenario be just around the corner?
Financial advisors share their professional views on the potential impacts of AI on retirement costs and how they are positioning their clients to take full advantage of this revolution.
‘Known Unknown’
While many retirees and near-retirees focus on their day-to-day expenses, uncertainty hangs over how AI may affect their livelihoods in the long term.
Ramiro Marmolejo, financial advisor and founder of Financial Rubrics, says Musk’s prediction is far-fetched.
“Society has seen ‘civilization-changing’ inventions before, like the internet and the steam engine,” Marmolejo says. “They didn’t change the bedrock necessity of personal financial security. We plan for the world as it is, not as a tech mogul hopes it will be.”
“I treat AI as a ‘known unknown’ with my clients and ensure their retirement plan is designed to work even if technology disappoints,” says Christian Ortez, managing director at Saxe Capital.
Brady Lochte, founder of Axon Capital Management, states that retirement planning is about preparing for a range of outcomes rather than predicting the world perfectly.
“Betting your future security on a best-case AI scenario is a risky form of optimism,” he quips. “Even if AI dramatically increases productivity, there’s no guarantee that abundance is evenly distributed or that essential costs fall quickly,”
Categorically Different
Yet AI-fuelled cost reduction is sector-dependent. For instance, McKinsey predicted last year that AI would reduce banking costs by 20%. What’s more, the consultancy forecasts that these savings will eventually be passed on to customers rather than to the industry.
Keeping a roof over one’s head is by far the largest annual expenditure for retirees. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, housing accounted for roughly a third of total retirement spending in 2023. While transportation averages slightly higher than healthcare on a monthly basis, healthcare spending fluctuates due to out-of-pocket costs and unexpected procedures, and tends to rise as retirees age.
Some retirement financial advisors see AI as a much-needed shot in the arm for US health outcomes.
“Tremendous opportunities exist…” says Chris Tasik, founder of Tasik Financial Strategies. “From enhanced diagnostics to optimized care pathways and assistive technology, AI has the potential to reduce the costs of medical care, especially in earlier diagnosis and monitoring.”
“Healthcare is where AI has a lot of potential to help – better diagnostics, more efficient care, fewer admin costs,” agrees Lochte. “But lower system-wide costs don’t always translate to lower out-of-pocket expenses, especially in the US,” he cautions.
In an increasingly unstable world, mapping out multiple retirement pathways and navigating various future scenarios is critical.
According to a 2025 survey by Schroders, almost two-thirds of Americans admit they have no idea how long their savings will last. Taking fluctuating healthcare costs into account, that level of financial ambiguity isn’t just uncomfortable; it can directly shape access to care, treatment decisions, and ultimately become a matter of life and death.
Keep on Keeping On
For those who remain healthy and fit to work, AI could be a blessing or a curse. There is great debate over whether AI tools will extend the working lives of near-retirees (increasing their income) or push an early exit (as more jobs are automated).
Marmolejo believes those with a human touch will have more options.
“Whether AI brings early retirement or extends working lives comes down to one thing: empathy,” he says. “For my clients, we look at their careers through this lens: if you provide what a machine cannot, your ‘working life is yours to define.”
Again, this means clients need to prepare for multiple scenarios. “Variability matters,” says Lochte. “I assume neither permanent employment nor sudden obsolescence – I plan for optionality.”
As the AI revolution reshapes the economy, automation may lower costs in some sectors, yet core retirement expenses, housing, healthcare, and human care remain stubbornly resistant to rapid deflation. For advisors and clients alike, the real value of AI lies not in predicting abundance, but in planning for uncertainty.
Ultimately, in retirement, resilience will come mostly from flexibility, diversification, and preparing for multiple futures, not betting on a single technological moonshot.