Americans of all ages do a lot of thinking about retirement — but that doesn't mean they're actually doing much else about securing a comfortable one, according to a new survey. In fact, a secure retirement as part of the American dream may involve just that — a lot of dreaming.

The October survey of 2,000 people by retirement community operator Provision Living found that while 52 percent of Americans ages 22 to 74 say they think about retirement four or more times a week, most don't expect they'll end up saving even half as much as they optimistically think they'll need in their golden years — and more than half also suspect they'll be working part-time in retirement.

Not that the expected shortfall has all of them worried, apparently: Forty-three percent of millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, told Provision Living they currently have less than $5,000 socked away for their seemingly long-off retirement years. And 5 percent of respondents, presumably also millennials, said they were "too young" to even think about retirement yet.

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The suspicion they won't be able to save up enough to retire as they'd like doesn't stop Americans who are already at least thinking about retirement from fantasizing about their ideal post-career life.

"Retirement is certainly a topic that seems to be on everyone's mind," said Collin Czarnecki, content strategist at Digital Third Coast, a marketing firm that partnered with Provision Living on the survey. "I think the idea of retirement itself goes hand in hand with the American dream.

"It's woven into what we do every day when we're at work and essentially what we're working toward," he added. "It's that goal we're all striving to reach."