A new survey, commissioned by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, shows American investors have significant and widespread anxiety about the security of their investments, particularly as it relates to their retirement savings.

More investors report that they are anxious about losing money on their investments (78%) and saving for retirement (73%) than are anxious about losing their job (50%), buying a house (42%) or paying for college (35%), FINRA reports. Only serious health problems were ranked above investment concerns in the survey.

“While it is no surprise that investors have a high level of anxiety about saving for their future and avoiding becoming the victims of fraud, this survey drives home the point that everyone must do more to help people to become better informed about investing,” says Mary Schapiro, CEO, FINRA. “Regulators, the industry and investors must make investor education a priority.”

Although retirement ranks as the most important saving and investment milestone for a majority of investors (72%), less than half (47%) are highly confident they are saving and investing enough for their retirement, the regulator says. It adds that more than half of investors say they are highly confident that the investment information available to them is objective and unbiased. But that sense of confidence may be a false one, it says, as 59% have made an investment that resulted in a loss of some or all of the money they invested.

Additional survey findings show that the majority of investors are anxious about being defrauded (67%). Although one in 12 investors reported losing money in an investment because they were misled or defrauded, only a small number of these investors reported the fraudulent activities. In fact, the survey shows that investors may unwittingly be leaving themselves vulnerable to investment fraud. Fifty-six percent reported taking steps to find out about the background of their investment professionals, most of which were informal or unsophisticated steps, like asking friends or family for investment advice.

Young investors, in particular, may be engaging in risky investing behavior, it cautions. They are the most likely to receive investing information from friends or acquaintances and to invest in unsolicited investment offers.

Investors who previously had made use of FINRA investor education resources were less anxious overall and better positioned than the general investing public to make sound investment decisions, it added. According to the survey, these informed investors are more likely to diversify their investments, check the background of their investment professional and make use of reliable sources of information when doing so.