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Elon Musk has suggested that traditional retirement saving may not matter much in the future.

In a recent interview, the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO described a world transformed by artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, where productivity is so high that a kind of "universal high income" makes work largely optional and financial stress a relic of the past.

That vision sits next to a very different picture from the present, though.

A 2025 Bankrate survey found that 58% of American workers feel behind on their retirement savings, and 37% say they are significantly behind. The gap between a promised future of abundance and a current reality where many workers already feel late to the game is one reason more people are looking for a grounded retirement plan built around their income and savings today rather than around any single prediction.

Musk's case is built on expected technological change. He has argued that by around 2030, AI could exceed the combined intelligence of humanity, that humanoid robots could eventually outnumber people and that most tasks short of "shaping atoms" could be automated. In that scenario, he says, productivity gains could support "universal high income," making the need to work—and to save for a period without work—far less central to most people's lives.

In that world, putting money aside for a future without a paycheck starts to look unnecessary. If technology ends up covering basic needs and more, the traditional idea of building a nest egg for retirement becomes less relevant, he argues. Even in his telling, though, there is uncertainty about how people will find purpose if work becomes optional.

Bankrate's numbers bring the discussion back to where workers are right now. The same survey that found 58% feel behind on retirement also showed that concerns rise with age and fall with income. Among Gen X, about 69% said they are behind schedule after living through the dot‑com bust, the 2008 financial crisis and the recent inflation spike.

Nearly half of those earning $100,000 or more still feel they are not saving enough, and that share climbs to roughly 67% for those earning under $50,000.

For most households, the primary concern is having enough money to stop working at some point without seeing their standard of living drop. That usually means steady 401(k) contributions, IRA balances that grow over time and a realistic view of what spending in retirement will look like. Sorting out those trade‑offs—how much to save, how aggressively to invest and when to adjust course—is where many people look for help from a financial advisor who can model different futures rather than just one optimistic scenario.

Choosing to follow Musk's advice fully would mean accepting several big assumptions. It would require believing that advanced AI and robotics will arrive on roughly his timeline, that the gains will be shared broadly enough to support some form of universal income and that the political and economic transitions needed to get there will be smooth.

It would also mean trusting that this happens in time to cover your own retirement years, not just those of a future generation.

The risk is asymmetric here. If someone keeps saving and a more abundant future arrives, they may simply have more resources than necessary. If they stop saving and that future is delayed, incomplete or uneven, they bear the shortfall. For that reason, many planners still recommend preparing for the world that exists now and treating any large‑scale technological shift as a potential upside rather than a replacement for personal saving.

That does not mean sticking only with the traditional mix of mutual funds and target‑date plans.

Some people are exploring ways to build portfolios that reflect their own views on technology, inflation and diversification, including holding a portion of retirement assets like real estate, private businesses, crypto or precious metals. Self‑directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s are designed for that. They keep the tax benefits of a retirement account while allowing investments beyond standard stock and bond funds, as long as IRS rules are followed.

Providers like IRA Financial focus on this space, giving investors a platform to use a self‑directed IRA to put part of their retirement money into alternative assets they understand while handling the compliance and administration in the background.

For anyone considering changes at that level, two sets of decisions usually come first. One is how much they need to save overall and how fast, based on age, income and current balances. The other is how to divide that pool between traditional investments and any alternative strategies they might pursue through a self‑directed account. Those are the types of questions where a financial advisor can be useful. They can run multiple ‘what if' paths, including more aggressive tech‑driven growth assumptions, and showing how those interact with taxes, Social Security and spending.

SmartAsset's free matching tool can help find that kind of advisor by asking a few questions about your situation and then matching you with up to three financial planners who work with clients in similar circumstances.

Bankrate's findings are a snapshot of how prepared workers feel today, and the majority already say they are behind. In that context, a balanced approach has appeal.

Keep building a retirement base through employer plans and IRAs, consider whether adding a self‑directed IRA or Solo 401(k) through a firm like IRA Financial makes sense for any alternative investments you want to pursue and use an advisor found through a service like SmartAsset to tie those pieces together into a plan that can work under a range of futures.

Handled that way, you are preparing for the world you live in now, while leaving room in your strategy to adjust if technology reshapes retirement more quickly than expected.

Image: Shutterstock

This article The World's Richest Man Told You to Stop Saving for Retirement — But 58% of Americans Are Already Behind. Which Side Are You Taking? originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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