Last week we talked about the fear and anxiety people have about speaking to a retirement planner, and that 71% of folks have some type of apprehension about speaking to an advisor. Well, on the heels of that article came a Washington Post story from last week (read it here) talking about how 25% of Americans worry about running out of money in their retirement.

The actual breakdown, across generations, is that 29% of Millennials, 28% of Gen-Xers, 19% of Boomers and 21% of those 71 and older (aka the Greatest Generation, the Quiet Generation, etc.) worry about running out of money. Looking at other, similar worries, 25% of Boomers and older were worried about maintaining their current lifestyle, and 24% were worried about health care expenses.

The knowledge that we’re all living longer, the rising costs and stagnant wages that every modern worker deals with, and a poor performing, up and down market are making a lot of folks queasy, especially those getting close to retirement. Coupled with terror attacks around the globe, wars we can’t seem to wind down, and a Presidential election featuring a cast of characters straight out of a comic book’s rogues gallery, it’s a scary time anywhere you look.

Weirdly, though, and you may not see things the way I do, but I honestly don’t think there’s any more to worry about today than when our parents and our grandparents were our age. I think the difference is that now we’re all targets of social media and an ever-present Internet, and a 24-hour news cycle with multiple channels. There’s a hundred different media streams all competing for our attention, and fear catches it. It’s not so much that things are worse now than they were 20 years ago, we just have greater visibility into what’s going on. Too much visibility, if you ask Debbie Wasserman Schultz but that’s a whole ‘nother story.

Back to the WaPo story, what strikes me the most about this figure is that most of the 20% of folks are worried about not having enough money to retire are also within that 71% that is scared of meeting with a financial planner. They’re scared they can’t retire, but they’re also scared to meet with the one person who can help them retire. Like a deer in the headlights, they’re not going to move in either direction.

Actually plotting out a retirement plan can be stressful, especially if the numbers don’t work entirely in your favor. For some of you, it’s probably the most stressful thing you’ll have had to deal with in decades. But which is worse? Keeping the blinders on and living in a perpetual state of fear, or learning that you’ll be eating burgers more than steak and driving a Buick for 10 years instead of a new Lexus every two?