A surge in AI-powered financial advice is reshaping how Americans plan for retirement, but industry voices caution that human insight remains critical.
A growing number of Americans are turning to artificial intelligence for advice on money, retirement, and other high-stakes life decisions, according to new research from Pearl.com.
While AI’s appeal is driven by convenience and cost, experts caution that relying solely on technology can lead to costly mistakes – especially when it comes to retirement planning.
Cost and access barriers drive AI adoption
The “Access to Professional Services Report,” conducted by Censuswide for Pearl.com, highlights the mounting challenges Americans face in accessing professional expertise.
More than half of respondents said they could not pay for a sudden medical emergency out-of-pocket, and 40% reported a lack of affordable legal counsel in their community. In the financial realm, 20% of Americans have used AI for personal finance advice, and over one in four believe AI can provide all the financial advice they’ll ever need.
Convenience and affordability are major motivators. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they turned to AI instead of a human expert because it was easier, while 21% cited the cost of professional services.
In the past six months, one in seven Americans consulted AI for professional-level advice every day, and 41% said they would rather ask AI potentially sensitive questions than a person.
Younger generations and high earners lead the trend/h3>
The shift toward AI is especially pronounced among younger adults and higher-income households. According to a recent study by online savings platform Raisin, 29% of households earning above $150,000 use AI to make financial decisions, compared with 14.3% of those earning less than $75,000.
Thirty-five percent of Gen Z and 30% of Millennials report using AI for financial choices, compared with 18% of Gen X and just 6% of Boomers. Men are also more likely than women to turn to AI for money matters, at 23.6% versus 16.8%.
“What’s clear is that people across all demographics are becoming increasingly comfortable with using technology to take better control of their financial lives,” said Cetin Duransoy, chief executive of Raisin. “Managing one’s finances can feel complicated – and a clear takeaway from this research is that people of all ages still want financial tools they can trust and actually use.”
Real-world risks: Lost money and broken trust/h3>
Despite AI’s growing popularity, the Pearl.com report reveals that the risks are real. Nineteen percent of Americans it surveyed have lost more than $100 due to bad AI advice, a figure that rises to 27% among Gen Z. Nearly one in three respondents said they rarely double-check AI advice, and 22% have followed medical advice from AI that was later proven wrong.
Moira Corcoran, a financial advisor and finance expert at Pearl.com, said AI’s instant answers are appealing in a world of rising financial anxiety.
“More than one in ten Americans now say they trust AI’s advice on when to retire, and 27% even believe AI can give them all the financial advice they’ll ever need,” Corcoran said in comments to InvestmentNews.
But she warned that this convenience can create a false sense of confidence. “It doesn’t actually know your financial picture or life priorities. The more people rely on AI’s ease, the more they expose themselves to a technology that can – and often does – hallucinate,” she said.
Corcoran recommends using AI as a starting point for learning and framing questions, but turning to human advisors for decisions involving investments, retirement dates, or moving money.
“Generative AI is a great tool, not a great advisor. When your future’s on the line, ‘human + AI’ beats ‘AI alone’ every time,” she said.
Hybrid intelligence: The safest path forward/h3>
Separate findings from MissionSquare Research Institute show that employees who are comfortable with AI are more than twice as likely to use it for retirement planning. Among workers who feel comfortable with AI, 81.6% shared an interest in using it for retirement planning, as did 56.5% of those who use AI at work, compared to just 26.2% who don’t.
The institute also found 72% of frequent AI users engage with financial professionals, compared to just 15% of their more AI-averse counterparts. This suggests that AI may serve as a complement, rather than a replacement, for human advice.
As AI becomes more embedded in Americans’ financial lives, experts agree that blending AI’s accessibility with human expertise – sometimes called hybrid intelligence – offers the safest path. While AI can help users feel informed and empowered, only a professional can provide the nuanced judgment needed for complex, high-stakes decisions like retirement planning.
