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Your Take: How Much Savings & Investments?
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I saw an eye-opening statistic this week from a retirement confidence survey done by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a survey they do each year, in which they learned that 60% of U.S. workers had less than $25,000 in savings and investments. That means the total value of their household’s savings and investment, excluding the value of their home and defined benefit plans like pensions, was less than $25,000. Retirement confidence was low, with only 14% being “very confident” and 38% as “somewhat confident.” The survey consisted of 20 minute interviews with 1262 people age 25 and older. 1,003 were active workers while 259 were retirees.
$25,000 is not a lot of money when you count savings and investments for people over the age of 25 and it’s a unfortunate to see that only 40% of respondents had that much. I won’t try to guess why the number is so low, I’m sure there is a variety of factors (the last few years has not been good on investments and job prospects, so it’s not incredibly surprisingly the percentage is so low), but I’m curious what the breakdown is among Bargaineering readers.
I’m 32 and I, thankfully, have more than $25,000 in savings and investments.
Do you have more than $25,000 in savings & investments and how old are you?
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It’s true that a lot of people have an easier time saving because their job pays better. BUT…
How many of us have known somebody who had a heart attack who found a way to lose weight after years of not making it a priority? Most of us are bleeding money more than we care to admit and too many wait until it’s too late to see this as the financial heart attack.
Please, folks, if retirement seems far away, understand that it’s not. Search for one of the compounding calculators online and check out how much even the smallest bit of saving can become big money by the time you retire.
Hindsight is 20/20 and actions taken (or not) in the past simply can’t be undone, only seen for adjustments to present and future actions. But that’s how we learn. Tim is right… the years will fly by so much faster than you expect. Taking care of your future is definitely up to YOU to do NOW.
I really do think it is so difficult to save in the current climate, but I agree that it’s important to save something!!! You could look at those figures and think, well if 60% of the populaton aren’t doing it then neither will I, but I think it stores problems up for the future if you suddenly need a sudden cash injection
I am 40 (wife 38) 2 children and we have about $335k combined in 401k and Roth conversions(split about 50/50)
my best friend’s ex-wife earned $12164 the previous month. she works on the internet and moved in a $437900 condo. All she did was get fortunate and put to work the tips revealed on this site Nuttyrich.С o M
I am 24 and have almost exactly 25k in savings/investments. I consider myself very fortunate to have what I have (even if it is not that much).
My wife and I got a late start to retirement savings due to her health issues and some stupid decisions, but I’m 35, she’s 39, and we have about $100K in savings and retirement investments. We’re also just about to pay off a $40K second mortgage over the last two years, so retirement contributions are about to skyrocket with that out of the way.
We could be much better, but we’ve also come a long way!
34 and more than $25k
25, with a lot more than $25k. There are so many variables that come into play though it’s so hard to say what is an appropriate amount to have saved up.
Age 38. $140K in IRA/401K’s. About $30K in emergency fund (also saving for a car). I didn’t finish college and enter the job market until age 31, so I’m pushing hard to save.
I’m 39, wife is 31. We have $266,000 in retirement accounts and $55,000 in emergency fund/non-retirement investments. At the start of 2011 we had quite a bit more in the non-retirement accounts, but decided to liquidate enough of it to pay off the mortgage.
31 and well over that mark. It has certainly taken a lot of frugal decisions and sacrifices, but will be worth it down the road.
I am 32, I am not married or have kids. I went back to school to earn another degree. I have been living off of savings and student loans because I cannot work full time (only part time because of school). I have not contributed to my retirement for almost 4 years.
I started to panic when I read that I should have over $125,000 saved! In this economy where no one really gets a good raise,employers are not matching your 401k as they were, and stocks are bad…. how does one “get back on track”???
I’m sure job prospects will get better soon and if you have multiple degrees you should be able to get a decent paying job, which would put you on track.
I am 47 and have $100K between 403b + Roth IRA. My company also has a pension plan that I will recieve once I retire so while i wish I had more than $100K I am not including my pension.