Americans aren’t exactly oozing confidence about their ability to retire, but their outlooks are improving.

The 2010 Retirement Confidence Survey, released by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, found that Americans’ confidence in their ability to retire is stabilizing after record drops in 2008 and 2009.

“Americans are starting to feel more optimistic about their financial futures, and now is the time to back that up with action,” said Daniel Houston, president of retirement, insurance and financial services at Principal Financial Group Inc., the underwriter of the annual survey. “Get started by figuring out how much may be needed for retirement and create a plan to get there. Keep spending in check and make savings a priority.”

Some key findings of the survey:

– Preparations for retirement are getting worse, as more workers reported they had no savings or investments and more than half said they had less than $25,000 in total savings and investments.

– Fewer than half of the workers surveyed had even tried to calculate the amount of money they need to save for retirement.

– A growing number of American workers are planning to delay retirement in an effort to replace investment losses or pay for health insurance.

“Working longer is one way to help fund retirement, but the research shows that a significant number of workers end up having to quit sooner than planned because of health issues or layoffs,” Houston said in a release. “All the more reason for workers to give themselves more options by saving effectively in the first place.”

See the full survey by clicking here.