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Working Americans Have Almost No Retirement Savings
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CNN Money reported last week that 43% of Americans have less than $10,000 in retirement savings, which is a statistic provided by the Employee Benefit Research Institute in their Retirement Confidence Survey (2010 results). If that figure isn’t scary enough, it appears that 27% of workers have less than $1,000. Both figures are increases from 2009, when 39% had less than $10,000 and 20% had less than $1,000 a year ago.
While the statistics are sobering, it does show how much the recession has hurt a lot of people. If you lose your job, the first thing to go after your emergency fund is probably going to be your retirement savings. Keeping a roof over your head and food in your stomach is going to take precedence over retirement tomorrow.
If you dig a little deeper in the statistics, you get a little more color on the situation and it’s not a good one. 56% of workers between 25 and 34 have less than $10,000 in savings, 46% between 35-44, 38% between 45-54, and a mind boggling 29% of workers over 55 have less than ten grand in their retirement savings. (on the other side, it’s pretty amazing that 10% of workers between 25 and 34 have over $100,000 in retirement savings, so it’s not impossible, which totally blows away both my expectations and what we know about average retirement savings)
If you’re one of the ones with less than $10,000 in retirement savings, don’t despair because 43% of Americans are there with you. We’re going through some tough times now but once we get back on our feet, retirement savings has to become a priority. Social security and other entitlement programs aren’t going to be here forever. It’s only a matter of time before they are replaced as defined benefit (pension) retirement plans are being replaced with defined contribution (401k) retirement plans (Math doesn’t care which political party’s name is written on your voter card, the current system is not sustainable).
If you’re in better shape, excellent, congratulations but don’t pat yourself on the back just yet. Share your tips with your working friends so that we can come back in five years and talk about how great it was we reversed the trend. We’re not getting many incentives to save for the future, just look at CD rates if you need a reminder, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.
43% have less than $10k for retirement [CNN Money]
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It appears the younger generations are bigger savers than the older generation, even though everyone is hurting. It is a good trend to see the next generation realize that they need to save for themselves. The scary thing is that the younger generation will likely have to help support their parents as they head towards retirement age.
I am in my late 60’s and recently retired. At age 50, I had a grand total of $20,000 in savings. It was not because I didn’t know how to save, it was because I was raising three kids and had a mortgage and other bills. I was very typical in this respect.
Thank god I started to get smart about a whole lot of things. I would have been dead now instead of living comfortably. I read every book I could get my hands on and made many wise decisions.
This blog site is one of many. I find it helpful hearing from you to make my decisions and stay informed.
Keep it up.
Bill Snider
These numbers amaze me. I am in my late 30s and only know of a couple people that don’t have a portion of their paycheck automatically put in a 401k. Maybe I run in a “financially smart” circle (heck, I read bargaineering), but that can’t be the whole answer. This article does make me feel better about my situation, though.
Suggestions:
1) Take advantage of corporate 401k programs – ESPECIALLY if they match.
2) Take advantage of Roth IRAs if you can
3) Invest in low fee index funds if you are young.
Thats it.
What’s funny is that your suggestion seems simple but it’s perfect and that’s exactly what I do. It almost doesn’t matter what you pick as long as you pick something affordable (low fee) and you pick it early enough. Time will balance everything else.
You must work in the financial area. In the company I worked for, most young people did not save. The reasons vary from family costs, education loans and just plain ignornace. That is why you have the problem described here.
Also don’t lose sight of the real world. Many, many, many people work for small companies and/or live in depressed areas. It is not that they don’t want to, they just can’t.
Bill Snider
Just plain ignorance has to take into account that many young people don’t realize just how big a difference it will make to start saving ASAP. The thought of saving now to reap the benefits 35-40 years from now just doesn’t make sense to someone at an age where they can’t even imagine being debt-free.
From the statistics presented, I can’t agree with you. It seems like more young people are saving for their future than people older and “wiser”. I fall into the lower age group, and although I don’t have that kind of savings yet, it is a plan in action that is moving me through.
Ah! Just re-reading it proves my ignorance! I retract my previous thread… Thanks
Not putting away enough to at least get the entire company 401K contribution match is the dumbest mistake anyone can make. Its free money! Saving now hurts in terms of today’s expenses but not saving hurts more later when you want to retire.
Pfft whats 401k
Good advice, Jim. In the circles I move in, I see the older generation as savers/investors, and their children and grandchildren as spenders looking for immediate gratification. There will always be that 1/4 to 1/3 of people who think someone else will take care of them.
I think it comes down to an individual’s personality too. I know a lot of people like to paint with a wide brush, Gen X doesn’t save, Gen Y does, Gen Z whatever, but it comes down to how someone is raised and their unique personality. Some people have an accumulator’s mentality, save for the future, and that’s independent of age.
“but it comes down to how someone is raised and their unique personality.”
100,000% this.
I see this as an explanation a lot that “others will take care of me”. I put little weight on that because people are not that smart. I don’t know any 30 year old who thinks social security will be around (whether you agree or disagree)when they retire. Most think ss will not be around so what/who is left to take care of them?
People are dumb and think short term. That is universal truth. It’s against our nature to save now and put off going to the strip club.
It’s a constant internal battle to put off now and celebrate later.
saladdin
Will SS be around for me (I’m 34)? Maybe.
Do I want to risk it? Hell no. I’ll save money on my own to avoid surviving on ramen noodles and Tang.
Go easy with the dumb accusation. There are a lot of people who are really hurting out there. Take a drive through Detroit and you will see what I mean.
Bill Snider
Missing the point.
Stupidity is in our DNA. It has nothing to do with race, age or zipcode. People are dumb but it’s smart to save money. The two do not go together easily. I am not surprised so few people save I am surprised that ANYONE does it. It goes against our desire for instant “goodness.”
People overlook the physcology of people and assume we are more then we are.
saladdin
There is an evolutionary component to all primates not understanding delayed gratification, however that is not necessarily stupidity, more of “there’s a lot here now, it may not be here tomorrow so I will get as much as I can while it’s here…” That’s why obesity has become a problem, primates are adapted for storing the excess as fat for leaner times. Unfortunately, evolution and good economics don’t agree.
Yay, I’m in the top 44% of my age group, and I am only 25 to boot. That being said, I have a very generous match at my job.
Too bad I am arranging to take out a 401k loan now. I wouldn’t do it except we are hitting some financially tight times and it is more economically efficient to pay off some higher interest debt with that and pay a lower payment to myself. Sure, a lot of people say “oh but you have to pay tax twice on the interest”, but it is better than paying the interest to someone else completely.
Brandon,
This assumes you do pay back the loan. That’s a big problem for many. Hope this works for you.
Mark
That’s a sobering statistic. Combine that with the rising cost of health care and retirees are in trouble!
I can say I’m not part of that group but I can still do more to prepare my family for retirement. Its a hard thing to have to save up for, well everything! But its something that must be done.
The mindset is just not there. People have zero clue, and must be assuming they can always get a job or that the government will take care of them. Or that somehow, with no effort on their parts, things will be better tomorrow.
Our education system is a failure on so many levels.
I agree about our education system failing us. Classes on how to write checks, balance your checkbook, budgeting, investing, using credit cards responsibly, buying a home and running a household on what you earn should be standard.
I wish Suzie Orman would’ve been around 30 years sooner. I learnt through trial and error. My credit cards are now under controlled use. So many never learn or don’t even try and we’ll be paying for those who don’t. Look at those walking away from houses right now. Will SS be there when I retire at 67? Most likely not. At least I have my 401K. My company matches what I put in. Am going to look into a Roth IRA soon.
Our high school USED to have a program called Life Skills that did a great deal of that… how to write checks, balance your checkbook, budgeting, investing, using credit cards wisely. Sadly it was one of the first to be cut when the school budget was tightened. The consensus was that it was not necessary because parents could teach these skills themselves. While that may have been a valid reason in the face of needing to cut expenditures, it left a lot of young people out in the cold without skills they didn’t even know they needed.
a lot of people just never have the resources to save, just getting by is difficult enough for these people. just a fact
I can appreciate that but 43% across all ages and all means seems remarkably high regardless…
Jim,
Take a drive through detroit and middle America and then lets see if you still wonder about people.
Bill Snider
Our education system is a joke. Probably why we are the way we are now.
it is not just our education system. it is education as a whole. an article in AMNY from either the 17th or 18th of march (you can read full pdfs of each day’s paper here: amny.com) said that something like 17% of kids in GB thought the first man on the moon was….
BUZZ FRICKIN LIGHTYEAR! the US was no better with their answers. It is sad when reading that article i found myself going, oh, at least they had the armstrong part right (louis, bj, etc) ugh.
My parents were divorced when I was younger (around 5, I’m 24 now) and I lived mostly with my mom. The only advice she gave me was stay out of credit card debt. Now I admit, unfortunately, I do have credit card debt, but I’m quickly getting rid of it. Every other aspect of finance, or personal finance, I have taught myself (through books and internet sites like this one) and I can same I’m above the $10K in retirement savings. In college I never took a finance class, but had friends who did, and just by listening to them talk about their classes made me go out and look for information about 401k, Roth IRA’s, etc.
I think the hardest part about retirement savings, is getting a good job where you can actually afford to put some portion of the money away. I’m fortuntate to have gotten a good job and to start my retirement investing while the market was down.
Kudos to you, Ryan! Just keep plugging away at it… you are already above the norm for your age.
On a side note, 25-34 year olds are probably your most popular demograph. I would imagine that you and other financial bloggers out there are making a small impact on improving these statistics. Keep up the good work!
I don’t think that any one should be amazed by these numbers. Nearly 40% of Americans fall below the poverty line at sometime during any 10 year period. That is a huge number.
Too often on personal finance websites we don’t take into account the fact that the vast majority of Americans are not reading financial information and quite honestly aren’t interested in it.
Many people struggle to pay their bills let alone save for retirement.
Mark Wolfinger,
I agree with that thought. I carefully weighed the situation and realized that even if I could not pay the loan back, I would only be losing the 10% penalty for early withdrawal meaning that I still got a 90% match on my contributions and that is no huge loss for being able to do something with the money 35 years earlier.
Note: I am nowhere close to maxing out my 401k or IRAs so I could easily “make up” any removed contributions.
A lot of this goes back to the lack of financial literacy in this country and that the need to manage assets and plan for a long retirement is a relatively new phenomena. Many spend 22 years getting educated, 40 years working, and 25 years retired. Planning for the 25 years where you don’t have a significant paycheck coming in is complicated and thus many apparently never make an effort to save anything close to what is needed.
Recognizing that there are many struggling because of the economic downturn and that there are many who don’t have a 401(k) is important also.
Well said.
Bill Snider
Good article. Thanks.
Unfortunately at this point I have under 10k in my retirement accounts…however I fall in to the first age group and I’m almost to 10k. I’m saving aggressively now so I should be there soon.
A very staggering number for such a large and powerful country. Just means we will end up paying more for those who don’t or can’t save.
Imagine what the rest of the world looks like.
I travelled overseas a lot for my job. Each time I came back I said thank god I am an American. If people think it is tough here, visit any other place in this world and see if you continue to say that.
Bill Snider
I agree with you. Whenever I travel with my family I am always sure to take my chiildren outside of the tourist areas so that they really learn what that country is like.
I am very appreciative of what we have in this country but I think too many people are not.
The opportunities here are endless.
No 401K at my job. We have a SAR/SEP with no match that I used to invest in but lost too much money. What is the next best way to save for retirement
Go to Troweprice.com and open an IRA. Call them and ask about the pros/cons of Roth or Traditional. The most fundamental difference is that you fund the Roth with After-Tax dollars and do not pay taxes on the distributions. There are other differences but that is the main one.
Choose a combo of the low cost index funds:
PIEQX: International Index : .50 expense ratio
PEXMX: Extended Equity Index uses the S&P Completion Index – .41 expense ratio
POMIX: Total Equity Index uses the S&P Total Market Index – .40 expense ratio
And a bond fund
go 60/40 Stocks to bonds as a general rule. (more in bonds as you get older)
When the market dives like March of last year. exchange a bunch of your bond fund shares for stock shares. Don’t concern yourself too much with what it is worth, your goal is to accumulate as many shares as possible at the lowest price. That is another reason for a healthy contingency fund…so your less likely to panic when the world seems to be falling apart.
The truly sad part about most of these comments is the notion that the lack of savings rate is due in some part to a character flaw in the individual. Never mind the fact that the same Gen-Xers that supposedly don’t save have had to survive two pretty harsh recessions, the elimination of benefits that would normally allow them to save in retirement funds (including health and 401K plans), and the shifting occupational landscape (with many of the higher paying jobs Gen-Xers were trained for being sent oversees).
Being a saver myself and in that group, I can tell you that I’ve been flush and been destitute in my retirement funds because of job loss, long bouts of unemployment, illness, and other issues that have NOTHING to do with character flaws. Statistics can be enlightening, but don’t use them to make assumptions about people.
This is very true, as well as the constant increases in costs that far outweigh increases in salary, making it harder to find money to put away for retirement.
Of course it is a character flaw. People that make 15K a year do not save and people who make 150k do not save.
The common trait with all is that we are people. To lay the blame on the feet of income, sex, race and/or geography is missing the point. Without attacking the root you can not begin to change the outcome.
saladdin
“The common trait with all is that we are people. Without attacking the root you can not begin to change the outcome.”
I don’t think this has anything to do with a ‘personal’ character flaw. I believe the root is education, rather than the person.
You can’t expect a young person, in a family that is struggling to make ends meet with both parents working, to just inherently know that he needs to save money for an event that is possiby 40 years away. Following education is the ability to follow through with the plan.
i think a main reason people do not save is because they were not taught to. someone whose parents were never down on their luck dont get the experience and knowledge that the other kids do.
my parents made every mistake financially. we were well off and i was spoiled and then boom, the exact opposite. i learned from being a kid and watching their mistakes what not to do. They both ended up older and with no money having to scrounge and my motivation is to not end up like that. boom. unfortunatelynot everyone has that and some need education on money and personal finance.
therefore why it should be a high school class and a required component of the core curriculum for a liberal arts degree
With so many retirees having insufficient savings upon retirement, we can expect the federal government to set up a general transfer of wealth program. The proposed health care bill will be one part of that effort.
I think that the health care bill is more about transferring based on health rather than based on age, though the two are intertwined. It’s also a life saver to insurance companies who are seeing healthier people dropping insurance to save money.
I don’t particularly like comparing myself with any of my peers. It is important to define wealth in your own way. My definition states that “wealth is made up of the things that make life worthwhile”. Once you define these things it becomes rather easy to pump up your retirement.
I went from being unemployed (laid-off) with no retirement funds, credit card and student loan debt to being quite well off in about 10 years.
I believe firmly that it is not the amount but the habit that matters the most. Investing for retirement (or not) is a habit. Eliminating debt (or not) is another habit. Our habits and associated rituals drive all of our financial behavior.
In my opinion, everyone should have a habit of investing, charitable giving and frugality.
There is a process, however to get from A to B. I like to think of it as 2 distinct phases.
Phase I is debt elimination and contingency funding. This is where you eliminate all consumer debt, establish a 6 month contingency fund and relentlessly drive down your expenses.
Phase II is Long term wealth. These activities are all concurrent because remember, it is the habits that matter most. Even while in this phase, you should participate in your 401(k) at least up to the company match threshold.
Phase II is Long Term Wealth creation. This is the financial independence part of the equation. This is where you max out your 401(k) (or comparable account) and your Roth IRA. If you have a baby, start a 529 before he or she is a month old. This is where you decide to start a business based on your passion and you learn how to (legally) reduce your tax exposure.
Almost all of the things in Phases 1 and 2 can be set on autopilot. ACH transfers for Roth IRA and 529 plans and payroll deductions in the case of 401(k) mean you can just watch the money grow. Choose a combination of Stock Index Fund, Gov Bond Fund and international Stock Fund(60%,30%,10%) as a general rule. These offer low costs and historically good returns. I love T Rowe Price and Vanguard. Most folks should start at T. Rowe since there is a lower minimum investment and you can set up Auto at $50.00 a month for an IRA for instance. Take a look at Vanguard Admiral shares once your pot grows large. You need to occasionally ‘rebalance’ your account to keep it at your chosen asset allocation.
I did not mention buying a home. I believe there are enormous advantages to owning your primary residence but whether you choose to rent or own is a personal one and will not affect this plan greatly. A decision on where to live, just like every other expenditure, should be based on frugality though.
Also remember that no matter how bad you think it is, there are others who have it much worse. You must give to others in the form of charity from day one. Helping others is part of what makes life worthwhile and should be part of everyone’s wealth plan.
“If you can’t feed a hundred people, then feed just one.” — Mother Theresa
You gave sound and doable – it worked for me.
It does take establishing habits and a level of automation (auto savings), but it can be done.
Correction = You gave sound and doable advice
Let’s get one thing clear…. Social Security IS going to be around. They aren’t going to legislate it away anytime soon. The problem is its declining ability to pay benefits.
For years (most of its existence) there has been a sustainable surplus of funds. These funds were further invested (investing in US debt) to provide an even greater surplus. The SSA was able to pay the high benefits that it promised. Things looked good.
As time has gone on, demographics have created a problem. With an increasing number of retirees (think: boomers), there are fewer payers into the system with greater benefits to pay. The surplus, exacerbated by fewer funds to re-invest (a big Thank You to China for picking up more US debt in the SSA’s stead) starts to decrease. But we all know this part of the story.
But let’s not forget that there are still people paying into the system! There will always be funds to pay SOME level of benefits as long as people pay in. It may not be as much (inflation adjusted) as what people used to get because of this loss of a surplus…but it will still be there.
The pols are concerned with this lack of a surplus because it means we are ever more reliant on others (again, see: China) to fund out debt. That’s why they make it sound like such a doomsday scenario. A problem, to be sure, but not a direct threat to SS.
So, the message should be to not rely on SS. Yes, it will still be part of your retirement picture, but, unfortunately, just not a big one.
Back to the point of the post…. Amazing stuff. It makes me feel better about my own personal situation, I guess, but I am REALLY scared for my fellow Americans. Perhaps we can try to get one thing right and at least reform Health Care this weekend so that our retirement costs will be that much lower. Another thing that the pols agree on, regardless of party affiliation, even though one side would have you think they are dead-set against it…
Agree with your thoughts.
saladdin
re: “….For years (most of its existence) there has been a sustainable surplus of funds. These funds were further invested (investing in US debt) to provide an even greater surplus.”
Pullitzer prize winning author, David Cay Johnston, has likened what our government has done with the excess Social Security receipts to an individual spending their retirement savings now and putting IOU’s in their top dresser drawer. Good luck buying groceries with those.
It’s a house of cards, or better, a ponzi scheme. The US government has spent our excess social security tax deposits on current expense. They intend to fund our impending benefits by issuing more debt or raising taxes.
Glad I’m not the only one that calls it a Ponzi scheme.
The only difference is that new marks are forced to pay into the scheme, instead of tricked
Unfortunately for many “some level of benefits” won’t be enough to survive. Overall, I agree, SS will still be funded, but the number of individuals paying into it is less. At minimum, they will need to make changes, like increase the top level at which you continue to pay SS taxes.
I consider it as icing on the cake. I bake the cake and someone else might ice it. If not, I still have the whole cake.
Social Security was never meant to be a complete income. As Nate said, it is a supplement to your retirement and not anywhere near enough to live on.
Chris, I like your analogy of a cake and icing… it really fits!
I agree with most of your thoughts. But what most people don’t realize is that Medicare is in MUCH worse financial shape than SS. At the rate we’re going, we could easily go barnkrupt trying to pay for health care.
I’ve just finished reading a new book that is pertinent to this discussion. “The Elements of Investing” by Burton G. Malkiel and Charles D. Ellis.
It is an engaging read and makes the case for saving and investing; offering simple, straight forward advice for beginning saving with recommendations for investing in index funds citing striking evidence that managed funds perform below average for the market…. that is unless you’re from Lake Wobegon where all the children are above average ;>)
Some of their ideas will not surprise followers of Bargaineering but I highly recommend their book – these guys are very smart and notably successful investors.
If you liked Malkiel and Ellis you’ll also like “The Smartest Investment Book You’ll Ever Read”, by Daniel Solin.
Burton G. Malkiel’s “Random Walk Guide to investing” is excellent. My copy was purchased in 2003 and helped form my overall investment philosophy. It is short, easy to read and prescriptive.
My greater concern is for public pension systems (other than SS) since my wife is required to pay into one and as I consider possible job opportunities I may have to go into one, and if they aren’t sustainable, I’m not sure it’s worth it, even if the opportunity is pretty decent.
Think of your retirement as a basket of goodies. Don’t rely on SS, a Pension System, The Stock Market or frankly, any single investment scheme.
IRAs are just regular investments that happen to have the tax burden lifted (slightly). It is the same with 401(k), etc.
I think buying a modest house in a good neighborhood is a good choice because, you know, you have to live somewhere in retirement and while property taxes may go up your fixed rate mortgage payment never will.
Another way to have a nice nestegg is to live a very frugal life to begin with. The more you don’t spend on ’stuff’, the better off you’ll be in real life and in retirement.
If you have to go into a PPS, just consider your salary after the deduction for comparison to other job opps.
That said, make sure you can *also* invest a bit in other vehicles such as a Roth IRA.
There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding of how much of one’s income Social Security retirement income is supposed to cover. The SSA representatives say that Social Sec is suppose to cover about 30% of your pre-retirement income (if you take it at full retirement age). Plus, that’s for those who are retiring now. My last social security statement said to expect to receive about 74% or so of the estimated benefit. So, I can expect it to cover maybe 20% of my pre-retirement income. That means I’ll still have to cover the other 50%-80% myself (depending on how much of my pre-retirement income I want to replace). So, regardless of when you’re going to retire, the SSA isn’t expecting to provide all your income during retirement.
Thank you Bonnie. I think a lot of this misunderstanding stems from how people USED to consider SS. They feel as if there is a tacit promise that it will pay for 100% of a person’s/couple’s retirement income. In that it will most assuredly fall short of that, people are buying into the misnomer that it won’t be there at all.
While I don’t want to live on 20% of what I really need, nor will I count on it necessarily being there, at all, I’m not going to pooh-pooh that I may have that much coming to me in retirement, either. It’s not an unsubstantial amount.
Great article, Jim! It’s all about the fundamentals. I think Finance should be part of high school curriculum…
I agree, I think the lack of education on finance is a big part of a lot of people’s problems.
i agree totally. I would also go so far as to say that a basics of personal finance class should be part of the core requirements for a liberal arts degree. It will serve americas youth much more than a pottery class or a class about southeast asia.
my school we had to have an I designated class and a D. I was international and such, and D was i believe diversity. so a history and politics of southeast asia and a victorian english class was sufficient to go along with art/theater and the rest of your desired major. Why not replace one of those with a basic personal finance class?
Why wait for a degree program, my high school had “home ec” that taught the basics of finance for everyday, but didn’t cover much toward longterm savings, and wasn’t a required course. I’d like to see finance curriculum as a basic requirement for HS grad, and possibly an even earlier implementation.
I am so glad that a wise friend told be to start saving for retirement once I got my first job out of college. Since then I have been putting a small amount into my retirement accounts. Now. I am well ahead of most people in my age group.
agreed. max out that roth ira and put whatever else into the no match 401k since i started working out of school. thank god someone was nice enough to tell me their horror stories so i didnt one day (hopefully, fingers crossed) have to have one of my own
I recommend saving as much as you can without touching the funds until retirement. Save even $35 per month if that is all you can afford.
I started saving for retirement when the first 401k came into effect. I did not save much until about the 5th year in, then I saved the maximum for my age. I have saved enough to live in retirement for the next 25 years. I went into self-imposed retirement 6 years ago, first living off my savings then at 59 1/2 I tapped into the 401k. With Social Security benefits, rental income and my 401k withdrawals I live comfortably off about $48k per year. I could not do it without the 401k savings.
SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!!!!!
This also means that the rest 60% people needs to pay for the 40% people who do not have enough saving for retirement.
I think that thought is a little flawed. Lots of people do survive on SS alone or work until they are 65 bringing in their own income. And of course we pay into SS so it’s not really “60% people needs to pay for 40%.”
saladdin
I honestly don’t believe in the 43% figure. I bet if you did a survey right here on this thread, the figure would be closer to 80%.
Shall we prove the media wrong?
I think you’d run into a MAJOR sampling error if you conducted such a survey on this thread. Not so sure that the readership here is really all that indicative of the nation as a whole.
exactly. someone unconcerned with saving and being smart with their money would mroe than likely not frequent let alone post on a financial blog touting awareness and financial smarts.
The readership here is already interested in saving, otherwise they wouldn’t be here. That would definitely be a lop-sided survey…
thank god i have my retirement savings well above these numbers and a job. phew.
but, if i didn’t, it wouldn’t cheer me up one bit to know that 43% of americans are right there with me. in fact it might make me more depressed
I agree with almost all the suggestions above, but I want to offer an alternative scenario which might apply to mabye just a handful of people.
For those, I think it comes down to too much choice, it’s paralyzing. People know they should save for retirement, and then there’s a million choices on how to do it. But it’s tempting to research every fund and every broker, should you get a Roth or a traditional IRA, what are ceiling figures, what happens if I over contribute, how to open an SEP or a SIMPLE plan, 401 what? Chuck, T.Rowe price, Vanguard, Fidelity, my bank… everybody’s offering something. It’s basically like the jam test. Too much choice.
I know some people who refuse to open an IRA because they haven’t had the time to find the right one. So they have none. They forgo the company match (which is a 100% interest right there), while they’re figuring out if they should invest in a fund that might lose 30% of it’s value in these hard times… Let’s see, you give $100, your company gives $100, the fund loses $60, and you still come out ahead by $40. But people are paralyzed out of fear of making the wrong choice. Not realizing that doing nothing is actually the worst choice you can make.
Advice, do something today, you can always change it tomorrow. But just start, it’ll add up and compound in your favor.
Wow, that is pretty amazing. I am not surprised about the under $10,000 for younger workers since many people in that age range either have lots of bills or don’t care about saving. I would imagine that most people that have the $100,000 are in their 30’s.
Since I’ve been laid off several times in the past 12 years (and now on disability) and barely 31, its a little hard to save when you’re constantly in a state of emergency and have to use those emergency funds. I guess ill be working until I take my last breath if this keeps up!
I’m 23 and no one I work with saves their money. I’m wondering if the people with $10k or less saved even think about retirement. Retirement is synonymous with being old and so a lot of people don’t want to think about it. I was this way a few years ago. I reasoned that when I got to be 60 then I’d be too old to have any fun with money so I might as well spend while I’m young. I’m guessing that’s what my peers think too. Then I realized that retirement doesn’t have to be something you do when you’re 60+. You can stop working as soon as you get enough money. That realization really encouraged me to save money like crazy because I REALLY hate working.
Well, I’m 25 and have about 3k in a Roth IRA and another 17k in a regular brokerage account. So I guess, I am kinda doing better then most in my age group? I have about 4k in a high yield savings account/interest checking.
Like many, I also have a love for travelling. I just spent a year living in Sweden and now just moved to NYC (orig from Bay Area) and with the cost of living here, barely able to put a little money away. Right now saving and retirement is taking a back burner to life and I will just try and grow what I have already saved. Besides I still have to make my way to Australia for a year before I turn 30!! Working Holiday Visa anyone?
For the most part these statistics didn’t surprise me, except for the 10% with more than 100k. Basically 1/10 Americans between 25-34 have more than 100k in retirement accounts, etc..? That seems like a stretch to me.
The 25-34 years old category is interesting. While I am 30 & have $100k it is largely from an inheritance. I saved $30k of my earnings but then spent it on a grad degree. To get to $100k you’d have to forgo kids & a house, I don’t see any other way.
Interesting information. I have become more concerned about retirement income the as I approach retirement age. I’ve always wanted to start a business and it seems that now is a good time as it can sustain me when I retire. I picked up a book called “The Ultimate Boomer Business Launch Workbook” by Jeff Williams. It’s helping me do my homework before I get started and plan for the future.
I started contributing to my company 401K when I started my professional career 20 years ago. At 45, I feel my retirement is well funded, I’ve also saved a lot in taxes. I’ve always taken advan=tage of the maximum my employer would match or contribute towards. Why let free money go. I think Jim’s right, it comes down to how you were raised, individual personalities and simple knowledge. Try to teach your kids as they grow up while you can influence them.
I think one of the most sobering facts that came out of this Great Recession is the lack of savings Americans have. It’s absolutely horrid and so that’s why it was encouraging to see the national savings rate increase steadily rather than be negative a few years ago. I hope the trend stays though.
The good news is that as the stock market dropped over the last few years stocks have become very cheap. If you put the same amount in you 401k you are gettting allot more shares for your money. As the market continues to recover over the next 3 to 5 yrs it will amplify you gains because you have allot more shares making you money because you were smart enough to inverst while the market was down. As long as you have another 10 or 20 yrs to go this bad recession will be the best thing to ever happen to you.
15-20-30 years seams like a long time, but if you are lucky you will still be around to enjoy what you saved when you were young. I did just like you and saved in a 401k with the company I worked for for 31years. I retired at 50 and now I am going to reach my 60th birthday. Even though I got hit pretty bad with this reccession my 401k just kicked in (59.5 years old)and I am not worried at all.
I may not be rich but I know I will survive. Forget about a job at my age, nobody wants us, so CYA, noone else will. One more thing to add, get a roof over your head (or several properties) and have it paid off by the time you want to hang up your spikes. gives you more $$$ in your pocket to enjoy. No mortgage or rent just property taxes and insurance. Good luck !!
I save 10% of my pay in my 401K tax deferred and what is better is my company matches the first 5% that I put in. If you have a company match it is a no brainer put that much in!!