Retirement: Let’s see how you stack up...

A recent study by Charles Schwab found that on average Americans believe they need $1,700,000 to retire. And according to another study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute, two-thirds of U.S. workers said they are very or somewhat confident they’ll be able to live comfortably throughout retirement.

Encouraging stuff, right? Except other studies pull back the curtain to reveal the shocking gap between our collective fantasy world versus harsh reality.

Let’s start with this—the 2019 Retirement Confidence Survey finds a jaw-dropping 47% of Americans age 35-44 have less than $25,000 saved for retirement. “Well,” you’re thinking, “those younger folks have a lot of time to catch up.”

Yes and no. Check out this chart from the same survey:

On one hand, it’s great that 65% of Americans age 55 and up have $100,000 or more saved (although that’s a far cry from the $1.7 million they say is needed). But sadly 23%, or around 17,500,000 of the 76 million Baby Boomers, still have managed to put away only twenty-five grand or less. OOF!!

Findings from the Employee Benefit Research Institute mentioned earlier paint an even grimmer picture. They report that nearly half of Americans nearing retirement age (65 years old) have less than $25,000 saved, and one in four don’t even have $1,000 saved. YIKES!!

Did you know that 21% of married Social Security beneficiaries get 90% or more of their retirement income from the program, while about 45% of single ones do so? Considering the average monthly check is $1475, that amount plus meager savings doesn’t add up to a very rosy final act.

Especially when experts like HealthView Services warn, "The average healthy 65-year-old couple retiring this year can expect to pay $363,946 ($537,334 future value) in lifetime Medicare and supplemental insurance premiums plus out-of-pocket costs." (And that's for a healthy couple.) 

Here’s a final sobering statistic for you. The Social Security Administration says a man or a woman who is 65 this year can expect to live to an average age of 84 or 86.5, respectively. The SSA also notes that "About one out of every three 65-year-olds today will live past age 90, and about one out of seven will live past age 95."

So where do you stack up? We truly hope your personal financial situation is off the charts fantastic. Because otherwise, if you’re not at the upper end of the 40% with $250,000 or more saved, unfortunately, the odds are great that the best case scenario is you will outlive your money. 

Look, we don’t enjoy sharing this bleak news. The never-ending avalanche of data reflecting America’s retirement crisis is the very reason we created Retirement Reimagined! as a lifeline for the millions of Baby Boomers who are losing hope for a fulfilling retirement.

Our own “rising from the ashes of financial ruin” success story can be your story too. If retiring abroad is an option you want to explore, we’re here to help! Click here to register for our Free Online Webinar or go to the Program tab find out more.