Suze Orman says this is the one expense you must cut in retirement

For many Americans, retirement means living on a fixed income, and the math is unforgiving.

According to the Senior Citizens League’s 2025 Senior Survey, roughly 39% of seniors depend on Social Security for the entirety of their income. That check averaged $2,084.40 a month for retired workers as of June 2026, per the SSA’s June Monthly Statistical Snapshot, up from $2,071 at the start of the year after the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment that took effect in January. The COLA added roughly $56 a month on average. A welcome bump, yes, but the Senior Citizens League found that 89% of seniors said that same 2.8% raise still left their benefits short of actual inflation, meaning the gap between what Social Security pays and what retirement actually costs keeps widening.

The retirement savings picture is equally sobering. The Federal Reserve’s 2024 Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households found that only 35% of non-retirees felt their retirement savings plan was on track. While that figure edged up slightly from 2022 and 2023, it remains well below the 40% recorded in 2021, and it still means nearly two-thirds of working Americans are behind. The most recent Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances puts the median household retirement savings at just $87,000, a fraction of what most financial planners recommend. That reality leaves millions of Americans heading into their later years with virtually no financial cushion beyond Social Security.

“Obviously you’re not going to have the kind of retirement that you might have dreamed of, but having any retirement savings is better than having no retirement savings. So, if you reach 50 and you don’t have anything to save, it’s definitely not too late to start and to save whatever you can,” said David John, senior policy adviser at AARP, as quoted by CBS Austin.

The New Retirement Reality: Why $1.46 Million Still Isn’t Enough

Cutting back on discretionary spending is more than a matter of tightening the belt. It is a critical response to a retirement landscape that keeps getting harder to navigate. The 2026 Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress Study found that the average American now believes a comfortable retirement requires $1.46 million, a jump of $200,000 from the prior year’s estimate of $1.26 million. The figure matches the record high set in 2024 and has climbed more than 50% since 2020, reflecting persistent inflation, longer life expectancies, and growing uncertainty about Social Security’s long-term future. The gap between aspiration and reality is stark: the Federal Reserve’s median household retirement savings of $87,000 leaves most households more than $1.37 million short of that target.

The Northwestern Mutual study also found that 46% of Americans do not expect to be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes, while a separate 48% believe it is somewhat or very likely they will outlive their savings entirely. Looking ahead, the 2027 Social Security cost-of-living adjustment is currently projected at roughly 3.6% by the Senior Citizens League, which would represent the largest annual raise since 2023. Even so, a modestly larger check does little to close a gap that has been building for years.

Personal finance expert Suze Orman has long warned that traditional stock and bond portfolios no longer offer foolproof protection when markets turn turbulent, because economic downturns can cause both asset classes to decline at the same time. Her prescription: build and maintain a liquid cash cushion covering three to five years of bare-bones living expenses. For retirees already struggling to fund that kind of safety net, the answer may be hiding in plain sight on their monthly credit card statements.

Diverting even a $600 monthly restaurant or coffee habit into a dedicated high-yield savings account generates $7,200 a year in breathing room. Over five years, that one habit change builds a $36,000 buffer, which is real protection for a fixed-income household facing an unexpected medical bill or a rough stretch in the markets.

Americans Are Eating Themselves into Debt

For anyone already in a difficult financial position, one of the first expenses to cut is dining out, says Suze Orman.

“For you to have money, you have to learn to live below your means but within your needs. How do you do that? You do that by simply purchasing needs versus wants. What is a need? Need is food that you buy at a grocery store. What is a want? A want is going out to eat at a restaurant and doing it over and over again.”

Dining out also feeds credit card debt, which compounds quickly for retirees on fixed incomes. Most people underestimate how much they actually spend at drive-throughs and sit-down restaurants until they total it up. A daily stop at Dunkin for coffee and a bagel, at roughly $20 a visit, adds up to about $600 a month and more than $7,000 a year. Those dollars vanish without most people noticing, and on a fixed Social Security check they can push a household from stability into stress.

The pattern is widespread. Bankrate’s 2025 Discretionary Spending Survey found that roughly 31% of U.S. adults are willing to go into debt for at least one discretionary purchase, such as travel, dining out, or live entertainment. That share was 38% in Bankrate’s 2024 edition, suggesting some pullback, but even at the lower level the behavior poses real danger for retirees with no savings buffer and a fixed monthly check. Debt taken on during retirement grows faster than most people expect, particularly at current credit card interest rates.

Orman’s message is direct: if you are retired, approaching retirement, or already stretched on a tight budget, pull back on restaurant spending now. The savings are immediate, and the financial impact compounds every single month.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to reflect that the SSA’s June 2026 Monthly Statistical Snapshot puts the average retired-worker benefit at $2,084.40; the Senior Citizens League finding that 89% of seniors said the 2026 COLA fell short of actual inflation has been added; the characterization of the Federal Reserve’s 35% “on track” figure has been corrected to note it edged up from 2022 and 2023, while still remaining well below the 2021 peak of 40%; and the Northwestern Mutual detail that the $1.46 million retirement target has risen more than 50% since 2020 has been incorporated, along with the current 2027 COLA projection of approximately 3.6%.

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