The study, which included more than 8,000 American adults, had some startling findings. [2] Among them: 20 percent of adults ages 50 and over have no retirement savings at all.
About 6 to 8 million adults ages 65 and older were living in poverty in 2022, depending on the measure used to assess poverty. Under the official poverty measure, one in 10 (10.2%), or 5.9 million adults ages 65 and older, had incomes below the official poverty threshold of $14,040 in 2022.
Unless you have a secret plan to get free money or you're lucky enough to hit the lottery, not saving enough for retirement will leave you scrambling to get by in old age. At the very least, you'll need to work longer or make serious adjustments to your lifestyle to get by.
Middle-class retirement savings insights
Among those aged 55 to 64, 17.19% have between $100,001 and $500,000, and only 5.79% have over $500,000 saved. For those 65 and over, 24.68% have balances between $25,001 and $50,000, but 19.48% do not have a 401(k) at all. Nearly 8% claim to have over $500,000 in their 401(k).
If you have $400,000 in the bank you can retire early at age 62, but it will be tight. The good news is that if you can keep working for just five more years, you are on track for a potentially quite comfortable retirement by full retirement age.
The poll also found that among those who have been saving for retirement, 6.7% have saved between $10,000 and $49,999, 12.6% have saved between $50,000 and $99,999, 12% have saved between $100,000 and $199,999, 9.9% have saved between $200,000 and $299,999 and 16.5% have saved $300,000 or more.
If you're unable to afford a nursing home or assisted living facility, you aren't out of senior care options. Some seniors get by with a mix of family caregivers, in-home care, and adult day health care.
If you retire with no money, you'll have to consider ways to create income to pay for your living expenses. That might include applying for Social Security retirement benefits, getting a reverse mortgage if you own a home, or starting a side hustle or part-time job to generate a steady paycheck.
For most retirees, Social Security and (to a lesser degree) pensions are the two primary sources of regular income in retirement. You usually can collect these payments early—at age 62 for Social Security and sometimes as early as age 55 with a pension.
According to a simulated model that factors in things like changes in health, nursing home costs, and demographics, about 45% of Americans who leave the workforce at 65 are likely to run out of money during retirement.
How many people are living near the poverty line? The Census Bureau estimated that in 2021, 11.6% of Americans — roughly 38 million people — lived at or below the poverty level. That year, the poverty threshold was $27,740 for a family of four and $13,788 for an individual.
A plurality of older Americans, 40.2 percent, only receive income from Social Security in retirement. Roughly equal numbers of older Americans receive income from defined benefit pensions as from defined contribution plans.
Just 16% of retirees say they have more than $1 million saved, including all personal savings and assets, according to the recent CNBC Your Money retirement survey conducted with SurveyMonkey. In fact, among those currently saving for retirement, 57% say the amount they're hoping to save is less than $1 million.
In a recent NerdWallet survey, 57% of Americans said they were living paycheck to paycheck.
Without savings, it will be difficult to maintain the same lifestyle an individual had in working years. Some retirees make adjustments by: Moving into a smaller home or apartment. Reducing television or streaming services.
Medical research finds that financial stress causes health to get worse, so they likely will die sooner than if they had maintained their economic status. My research team at The New School's Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab) estimates about 2.7 million men continue working because they can't afford to retire.
According to the Social Security Administration, or SSA, the monthly retirement benefit for Social Security recipients is currently $1,783.55 in 2024 on average. Several factors can drag that average up or down, but you have the most control over the biggest variable of all — the age that you decide to cash in.
£300k in a pension isn't a huge amount to retire on at the fairly young age of 60, but it's possible for certain lifestyles depending on how your pension fund performs while you're retired and how much you need to live on.
Downsize or Sell Assets
Selling the house or downsizing are the practical, popular solution for seniors to finance their senior care and future expenses when they are short on funds.
Seniors can save money on housing by choosing to stay in their own homes and becoming a member of a local virtual retirement community. Virtual retirement communities are grassroots, nonprofit organizations that provide older adults with a variety of accessibility services.
Seniors have realized that the romance of living in their lifelong home doesn't hold the luster it once did. By seniors selling their homes and downsizing, they reduce the costs of homeownership and add to their monthly cash flow. Homes are constantly in need of maintenance and repair.
The ideal monthly retirement income for a couple differs for everyone. It depends on your personal preferences, past accomplishments, and retirement plans. Some valuable perspective can be found in the 2022 US Census Bureau's median income for couples 65 and over: $76,490 annually or about $6,374 monthly.
Your net worth is what you own minus what you owe. It's the total value of all your assets—including your house, cars, investments and cash—minus your liabilities (things like credit card debt, student loans, and what you still owe on your mortgage).
With those time ranges in mind, it may be reasonable to hold cash to cover one to two years of living expenses (beyond predictable Social Security and pension income) in addition to your daily use account. The exact amount you want to have also depends on your risk tolerance and the amount you have saved.