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 about $2,083 a month as of May 2026, per the SSA's 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 that still falls well short of what most retirees need to cover housing, food, health care, and transportation.

The retirement savings gap 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, a figure that has barely budged in years. 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 not just about tightening a belt here and there. 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. Yet the average American has saved only about $88,400 toward that goal, leaving a gap of more than $1.3 million for most households. Nearly half (48%) of those surveyed said it is somewhat or very likely they will outlive their savings entirely.

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 advice: 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 habit change alone 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.

The problem is widespread. According to Bankrate's 2025 Discretionary Spending Survey, roughly 31% of U.S. adults say they are willing to go into debt for at least one discretionary purchase such as travel, dining out, or live entertainment. Even at that lower level, the pattern 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.

The message from Orman is straightforward: 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: The average monthly Social Security retirement benefit has been updated to approximately $2,083 as of May 2026 per the SSA's Monthly Statistical Snapshot, reflecting a slight increase from the $2,071 January 2026 estimate. The retirement savings gap figure now reflects the 2026 Northwestern Mutual Planning and Progress Study finding that Americans have saved an average of $88,400 against a $1.46 million target, up $200,000 from last year's estimate. The Bankrate discretionary spending debt figure has been updated to 31% from the 2025 survey, replacing the 38% figure from the 2024 edition.

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