When it comes to retirement savings, how do you stack up?
According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the mean retirement savings of all working-age families, which the EPI defines as those between 32 and 61 years old, is $95,776.
But that number doesn't tell the whole story. Since so many families have zero savings and since super-savers can pull up the average, the median savings, or those at the 50th percentile, may be a better gauge. The median for all working-age families in the U.S. is just $5,000.
As the charts show, retirement preparedness varies by age. Not surprisingly, younger families have less stashed away. Here's a breakdown of the mean and median retirement savings of U.S. families at every age:
Mean retirement savings of families between 32 and 37: $31,644
Median retirement savings of families between 32 and 37: $480
Mean retirement savings of families between 38 and 43: $67,270
Median retirement savings of families between 38 and 43: $4,200
Mean retirement savings of families between 44 and 49: $81,347
Median retirement savings of families between 44 and 49: $6,200
Mean retirement savings of families between 50 and 55: $124,831
Median retirement savings of families between 50 and 55: $8,000
Mean retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $163,577
Median retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $17,000
How big should your nest egg be?
The answer is highly personal, and specific dollar amounts can be arbitrary, but according to retirement-plan provider Fidelity Investments, a good rule of thumb is to have 10 times your final salary in savings if you want to retire by age 67.
Fidelity also suggests a timeline to use in order to get to that magic number:
By 30: Have the equivalent of your salary saved
By 40: Have three times your salary saved
By 50: Have six times your salary saved
By 60: Have eight times your salary saved
By 67: Have 10 times your salary saved
Rat
14 hours ago
There's only one problem... the government taxes you to the point that it is extremely hard for the 'average' family to save money for retirement much less for your kids education and a new car etc etc! They stack the deck against people having enough money TO retire!
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69 Honda
13 hours ago
Well I'm a bit surprised the numbers are so low. My wife and I are both 51 years old, and have managed to save 1.2 million between the two of us, but then again, we've never owned a new car, have never carried credit card debt unless it's a zero interest offer, and when the bank told us we qualified for a 600K mortgage, we bought a 100K house. I think most people choose to live beyond their means. I will admit an advantage in living in western PA where the cost of living is quite low.
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Robert
14 hours ago
I must have done something right.
I'm 67 and have 10 times my salary that I was earning at age 54 when I retired.
I own my own cardboard box, My vehicle is a wally-world grocery cart, and I have $10 in my shoe for emergencies.
Here I was thinking I was poor and below standards. Come to find out, I'm right on target.
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T
13 hours ago
Lieberal retirement plan: Spend all your money on $150 Air Jordans while collecting welfare. Let Obama Care subsidies pay for your health care.
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bubba
14 hours ago
How does a person save for retirement when you live paycheck to paycheck and at the end of a month you make $3000.00 and your bills are $3002.00 or greater? Saving money is a luxury bare bones living no thrills, no new cars, no vacations or paid holidays or health insurance ..... how does a person save?
I ask others, how do you save?
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Steve
14 hours ago
With a healthcare bill of $2,000 a month and utilities and taxes on the house of $1200 a month and gas a food and and and.... how the F can I save...Disaster
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Archimedes
14 hours ago
People are so screwed... with these stats, almost nobody is retiring, which makes sense: our culture has changed from planning and diligence to indulgence and shortsightedness.
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Mildmannered1
14 hours ago
My mother told me when I got my first job as a grocery checkout girl during college, start and IRA and contribute every year, no matter what. I did and am in good shape for retirement. I've told my kids the same advice. No job and no one will take care of you except YOU.
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Bill S
14 hours ago
dont worry, get a Fed job, retire 80,000 to 100,000/yr
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RetirementSite
18 hours ago
The key is to start saving/investing early in life and be consistent (save with every paycheck). Taking advantage of a matching 401k plan should be a no brainer. The power of compounding is lost on many people. Also maxing out contributions when possible, eliminating debt, avoiding risks with your nest egg, planning for multiple streams of income once retired (social security, pensions, dividends, part time work, etc.) and making catch up contributions once you reach 50 should all be part of everyone's plan. And work at staying healthy to reduce illness, injuries and medical costs. The site Retirement And Good Living provides information on all these issues as well as many other retirement topics and also has several retirement and health calculators.
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Dominators
14 hours ago
Fidelity's suggestions are quite low! I can't imagine being in my 40s and only have 3x my salary saved. Americans need to do a much better job of saving and not spending!
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SayWhaa
12 hours ago
I told my parents who saved, saved, saved that you will be in the hospital or a care facility next to the people who were on welfare. That would have been true except we cared them. Their thousands of dollars would have been gone in just a few years given to care facilities, then free after they drained them from being frugal while others lived off their tax monies with government subsidies. I seen people get braces, teeth bleaching on welfare for free, while we struggled and sacrificed for everything for our kids. We have a jacked up entitled society.
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Dubya
13 hours ago
I was doing ok till obamacare.I am a medical provider and the reimbursements are awful.It went from helping patients to medical billing and you do 3 times the work for 1/3 the pay.My saving grace is I own everything.People never talk about that side of what is/was/still obamacare and it stiffs Doctors and providers.I went on a 2nd honeymoon in 201 to Fla and rented a place next to a nurse moving--she told me her pay went down to 14 an hour with a doubling of paperwork--6 months later it hit my profession.Also the people on odingocare have no money and cant even afford the minimal copays sometimes.Illegals are on it and the subsidized plans are the worse--2 plans we actually take a 20 dollar loss unless we see people every 3 minutes which is impossible to do the job right.I testified about this to the Ga congress and NADA.86% of doctors would not recommend the field.
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o1sok
13 hours ago
The problem is TAXES. People who don't work don't pay any, and extremely wealthy individuals don't pay their fair share. That leaves the "middle class" to tak e a 50% hit once you count all forms of government extortion.
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Bill S
14 hours ago
welfares need not worry
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annbobcobb5553
12 hours ago
Hey CNBC you guys forgot to tell how many millions the Clinton's have stole off people where's that news.
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Max
7 hours ago
Between my wife, my girlfriend,and the casino, I'm having a very difficult time saving anything...I'm over 80 and feel I'm running out of options. I am lucky though, I don't live under a bridge, yet!
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Carl
4 hours ago
There are so many of these articles on the so-called "news" sites. They scare people into giving whatever money they do have to financial service companies, who reap the fees off the top. No way most working people can save the suggested numbers. They will just live very close to the vest when they retire and pool resources whenever possible. Take a typical salary of 48K reduce for taxes maybe 40K left. Pay rent 1000 per month (that's low in many places but a fair starting place) that leaves 28K Make typical car payment of 350 that leaves 24, buy food at 300 per month that leaves 20K, pay health insurance at 400 per month for family that leaves 15K buy gas 50 per week that leaves 12.4K. Car insurance, renters insurance another 1K leaving 11, clothes and shoes 1K now you have 10K and haven't gone anywhere, had any emergencies, paid any deductibles on Health bought nothing like furniture, eyeglasses, repair on the car etc. Nor have you paid for anything for kids if you have them. So even in the ideal situation and you do absolutely nothing you could save maybe 8 K per year, assuming you started at this high of earnings at 25 and saved every year until 65 that is 40 X's 8 equals 320,000 plus interest which has been so low for 9 years it doesn't even matter but lets say you played the market and doubled your money that would be 640K That is a perfect 40 years without vacations, no emergencies and not having a family because it is now estimated a child takes 250K to raise to adulthood and that alone would wipe out any savings. But if your were PERFECT with the AVERAGE salary. you still would fall short of what most financial "advisors" and these news sites tell us we need! BS plain and simple.
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george
13 hours ago
Got a million in the bank/market, own 15 residential rentals w/o any debt plus a $500,000 home w/no debt and I'm still trying to save at age 67. One medical crisis or big cost prescription drugs cash wipe away all of it in a heart beat. Been frugal my whole life, never owned a new vehicle and used up and wore out anything I ever owned to get where I am.
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Personal
4 hours ago
This needs to be taught in schools. But unfortunately the teachers are not bright enough to do this.
Weston
17 hours ago
"Mean retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $163,577Median retirement savings of families between 56 and 61: $17,000"Scary numbers. A freaking MEDIAN of $17K for people at that stage of their lives? #$%$ are they counting on? AirBnBing their houses (if they happen own one), the joys of cat food, greeting people at the local Walmart at age 80, micro homes, sharing housing with 2 other couples ... or what?
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zarlin
14 hours ago
It amazes me how good a lifestyle some people I know have who have large credit card debts. They drive nice rented cars, have cell phones, and eat out most days.
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Andrew
4 hours ago
don't want to sound like a pessimistic person, but the best thing to take care of is your health. you can work 3 jobs and cut coupons all you like, but once you get cancer or have a debilitating stroke , then what? your life savings will be wiped out. Some one will have to take care of you forever after that.
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Mel
2 hours ago
Now show how much the average family spends on cellphone plans, cable TV, smoking, movies, Xbox and other games to see why they don't have retirement savings.
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YBTDS
13 hours ago
People assume that they will be able to live on Social Security. Ha! It's not all that much to start with, and by the time Trump cuts it back, it won't be enough for food, much less housing and medical needs.
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Anthony
13 hours ago
If one lives in a high cost region such as NYC, Chicago, or Los Angeles, you have two children and make an average salary of say 50K or less, your chances of saving 10 times your salary by age 67 will be almost impossible mathematically. Without taking into account college costs, illnesses, job losses and on and on infinitum this story just doesn't "add up".
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Don R
13 hours ago
Enjoy life while you can. Eat what you want, go where you want to go. OR.... Save scrimp all your life, retire and get hit by a bus going home.
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Epidot
14 hours ago
This is the punishment for being an American now. Every day you will chastised by the media for not saving enough out of the money you don't have. It's the media's way of flogging the slaves until their attitude improves. I would like to thank the financial media for being the overbearing, nagging, parent I never had.
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Jerome
14 hours ago
All three of my children are in the health care industry 2 are Rn's and my son is a dentist. I have been retired for almost 16 years and I am counting on them to swoop down and save me during my later golden years. Not!
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Duffus
8 hours ago
it is hard to save when you got to have cell phones for everybody a x-Box everybody a computer for everybody at least two cars and a pick up truck a T V in every room wife has 500 pairs of shoes daughters only have 235 pairs each plus wife with 6 speeding tickets and bad teeth now I hear I want three hundred dollars for a tattoo on my back
Gadzuks
4 hours ago
I am the cheapest, penny pinching mizer alive and am curious to know how the folks here who are scratching their heads at those that can't save the amounts this article is stating, ie: 50 = 6x, 60 = 8x, 67 = 10x. At 50, I am on track for this, but, again, I live with zero frills: no kids, paid car, no cable, take lunch everyday, rarely eat at restaurants, heat never about 64, AC never below 74, clip coupons, very modest home mortgage. I could go on about the things I do (and do not do) to save money and STILL find it hard to beat the local tax man. I'm generally ok with the Feds. It's the state/county/city that is makes it the constant uphill climb. If everyone would take more time to REALLY analyze their property tax bill and figure out where their money is going, people may have a bit more voice come voting time. More than 50 percent of my property taxes goes to other peoples retirement in the form of local government pensions. AND, they are ALWAYS wanting more. Bernie Sanders' argument of the 1% crushing the middle class. NOPE. It's the public union employees (yes...I am looking at you teachers) that are soaking the middle class into the ground. The 1% can live in their glass houses and gated communities. As far as I can tell, the property taxes they pay give them the right to wall themselves off. For those who are wondering why it is so difficult to save and have those millions at 62, please let me know your plan.
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William
14 hours ago
i always just took my raise and put it into the 401k. never liss what you never had
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Raymond
3 hours ago
Im 35 and my wife and I have saved $92K so far. We have 2 kids, no car payments, only debt is our mortgage. Tell me experts out there, am I doing ok?
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William
4 hours ago
The government steals all your money before you die anyways.
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a
13 hours ago
One reason Americans are broke is because they've been brainwashed at a young age by advertisers to buy things they don't really need. Being frugal just isn't cool when your peers judge you for what you wear and own.
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JordanS
14 hours ago
OH #$%$ IM NOT EVEN CLOSE!
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2Curve4
12 hours ago
Since the 207 recession ( really a depression), the MAJOR MAJORITY of Americans HAVE NOT got a MEANINGFUL RAISE, MOST haven't gotten raise to cover the cost of living over that time. Using the governments inflation numbers is a JOKE and a LIE to people. Workers have CONTINUALLY watched rent, food, health care and gas prices rise, while the government AND companies REFUSE to address mainstreet workers REAL costs over that time.
They just pump out numbers THEY CALL inflation, while people slowly and STEADILY sink. Companies use tax inversion tactics, buy back shares for the company (then give THEMSELVES BONUSES, stock options) companies have refinanced debt at incredibly LOW rates, their coffers are bulging, while workers get laid off and H-1b visa holding immigrants take their jobs for LESS PAY.
Yet this article says NOTHING about how workers DON"T make enough to save anything SIGNIFICANT, the FEW dollars they CAN save are DESTROYED with ANY kind of medical, dental or financial SMALL crisis.
Companies are given tax breaks, politicians keep filling their pockets from lobbyists, Walls street makes sure the game is rigged to give themselves the lion share.
But, this article doesn't and WON'T address the REAL issue!!
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Matt
9 hours ago
I just retired today, at age 58. No company pension, no company healthcare, stay at home wife, etc. My passive income is 2X what I made at work as an engineer. RE was my path (that I started only 15 years ago) , not Wall Street.
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Flying Asian Carp
17 hours ago
Fake news.
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Yahoo Reader
14 hours ago
This data varies widely by race / ethnicity. Asian family culture enables a fiscal discipline that is orders of magnitude better than the Steve Bannon - Bubba with Tattooos - Whaiiite Trash.
Mark
13 hours ago
The key to saving is not buying into "needing" the latest and greatest of everything, looking for bargains ALWAYS and avoiding eating out. Healthy fresh foods are cheap compared to prepared packaged food. But it seems the average American starts the day with a $5 starbucks, eats lunch out, drives a car which costs what a home should and a home which they can never pay off. Do they even save $5 a month in their savings account? Most don't/ They want MO, MO, MO and liberals expect that for free from those of us who work and pay the taxes. Keeping up with the Jones revved up in the 80's and is now the norm. Don't buy in, and flourish. And vote against those who love taxing you endlessly.
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Joe
4 hours ago
Advice from experience:
1) get an education, white collar or blue collar,
2) save some money, live below your means,
3) buy used ->One Up On Wall Street by Peter Lynch, read his book, dont get bogged down if you dont understand some things, understand the main idea he is trying to spread which is knowing the companies around you to invest in
4) dont read the sports section , read the business section, educate yourself
5) learn the following, shares outstanding, debt, PE ratio, EPS(earnings per share), cash
6) if i can do well with this you can to , i was not a great student
7) be humble
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D Fontenot
3 hours ago
You need at least $3 million to have any decent lifestyle with zero debt. Anything less is a very restricted lifestyle. Even at that level there is very little room for splurging. Limited travel on coach at best. Pray you don't become ill or your wealth will dissipate at a very accelerated rate!
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Crimson King
3 hours ago
People don't save because they spend everything they make, often in order to just make ends meet, but at other times because of foolishness such as gambling, taking expensive vacations, buying expensive cars, drugs and drinking, stupid credit card debt, or buying expensive adult recreation toys.
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Yahoo Reader
13 hours ago
Good thing I paid for college by working, only bought used cars, and saved till it hurt. I'll be making more in retirement (and retiring at 60) than I ever made while I worked. As long as the government doesn't take it to pay for some idiot who spent their retirement when they were younger.
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richardg
4 hours ago
The yearly retirement benefits for public sector retirees average twice that of private sector retirees. In order to maintain that criminal difference, taxation of all wage earners must constantly be increased. If the public sector pension benefits were fully funded in CA or IL or NJ there would be no money left to provide the services that those state and local taxing authorities should provide by law. This is the real reason our economy, so burdened, cannot expand.
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lucky
7 hours ago
I don't know what people spend money on!? I bought my first house at 18, paid it off at 28. Rented it out and Bought a second house, paid that off at 40 years old. My cars are 2003, and 2006, but paid for. I sent three kids to college, got divorced, and at 44 I'm going to retire in 6 years and become an ex-pat and travel with a million in the bank. I never made over $100,000 a year. I think people just think about today now and not 20 years down the road. I hate to tell this to young people, but you do get old!! Better start planning.
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Yahoo Reader
4 hours ago
Well, shoot. Apparently, I won't be able to retire until I'm 167 years old.
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Yahoo Reader
5 hours ago
Sounds near impossible to save money these days. But you have to force yourself to put some back from the very first job you get. And once you get use to that, you forget about it. And then the compound interest does it's magic and you will be okay. Yes, interest paid presently isn't much, but every little bit helps. Those words, "Pay Yourself" are very true.
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Gary Coffey
13 hours ago
I grew up dirt poor with no parents after age 12. Worked hard and invested in things that gave me a good return. Retired at age 46..If i can do it anyone can..Most people will find an excuse as to why they can't..
Sam
7 hours ago
I put my money into a savings account at my bank and earn a whopping .00000001% interest. By the year 6237 I will have almost earned a dollar in interest. I'd be willing to bet wages will still be the same by then too.
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Will
14 hours ago
The mean values ("mean" is just a fancy way of saying "average") appear lower than I would have expected, but then again they are for families which have a harder time saving because of the costs of having kiddos. The median values are scary! For those of you that don'e know, if you have some list of numbers and sort them highest to lowest, the middle number in the list is the "median." What that tells you is, for the 32-37 group, half of the people have saved $480 or less. Ouch! For the mean of that group to be $31,644 means there are a smallish number of people at the top that have saved a boatload because the median is nowhere near the mean. As to Fidelity's basic rule-of-thumb being that at age 67 have 10 times your final salary, that is good advice... but, better still, save as much as you can EARLY so that it has decades to grow!
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Need Cufflinks
13 hours ago
At 63 with two grown children I have saved -$36000.00
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A New Yorker in Hawaii
13 hours ago
Or you could stay open minded to other methods of creating an income, I have a classmate from college who him and his wife are retired and they're only in their late 20s.
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Coco
1 hour ago
Bring down property taxes and maybe there's a chance to save more.
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Pat
2 hours ago
If people feel they can retire on the high end of these numbers they are ready to be punched in the face. If people with a traditional pension and SS have the high end saved they will be just OK. If they are just depending on savings to supplement SS then they are screwed. Never to young to start saving for retirement.
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Some White Guy
5 hours ago
I've saved my whole career. Why I don't know. I'm sure that by the time that I retire all of the Liberals will tax everything that I have saved to "help" all of the non-savers! "WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION"!!!
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bubba
14 hours ago
Who ever wrote this article is either a silver spooner or just plain not real.......there is no way Americans could possible reach these goals the author sets out ...... Cost of living is too great and and a weekly paycheck does not cover the real cost of living and I mean frugal to moderate means ....
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A Ashtar
14 hours ago
It would be difficult for most people to retire on 10 times their salary without a significant adjustment downwards in their spending habits.
Try 20 times annual salary for retirement. It's more in keeping with reality of a "non-changed lifestyle" in retirement years.
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OBOMBO
13 hours ago
They've offshored most of the good jobs so how the H can anyone save anything when everything keeps going up in price? What a joke. It's so depressed jobwise where I live you're lucky to make minimum wage. Save my eye!
John Rezeda
7 hours ago
only the one percenters are saving money , the money we need to save is being stolen by our Financial and economic terrorist , Congress the 1 percent and the Corporate elite .
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Gregory
14 hours ago
If you can't live with your parents for years into adulthood, and are under 40, the system has screwed you...Hard.
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WTF123
1 hour ago
All of these savings estimates are based off of the premise that most Americans are working for a living. That is a bad assumption. Most Americans are living off of the government and other tax paying citizens. Obamacare, welfare, food stamps, unemployment..... these are all liberal programs to take care of the people who don't want to work. Unfortunately for America, we now have a lot of people who want a piece of this action, so they are illegally immigrating to the United States.
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TooManyPets
1 hour ago
Don't worry about not having any money, the poorer and less you have the better for taking advantage of our social services. Sure the main part goes to illegals, parolees, welfare, housing projects and subsidized housing but there will always be something there for you who worked and put into the system. But again, those who never put a dime into it get it first and you get the crumbs. Amazing how every year you hear Social Security is going broke, a fund you, the working people put into for later years, yet it is always raided/raped by liberal politicians to provide for illegals and liberal causes. You never hear about welfare running out of money! And most of the recipients never put a dime in it, some are third and fourth generation still living in their great great grandparents housing project unit.
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SMC
2 hours ago
These articles really scare me. People need to be making personal sacrifices to save. Don't buy new cars, don't order out all the time, make your coffee at home, live in a reasonable house, scrutinize cell phone and cable and entertainment costs, shop in thrift stores, grocery shop at Aldi's. These people who have nothing saved are going to also have to start caring for elderly parents because SS has gotten no cost of living increase. I see it. Older people are foreclosing on their homes at an alarming rate. This only increases the tax burden on people who have earned, lived within their means, and saved.
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RobbF
2 hours ago
My wife and I got married later, mid-30s. We both had good jobs and were savers. When I added everything together we had maybe $200k. I put a plan together for us to save the max in 401ks and it ended around $4 million at age 65. My wife asked me if it was that simple why doesn't everyone do it? As people below have said, leased luxury cars, expensive vacations, huge homes. All that sidetracks you. Now, 12 years, two kids, one job loss and one Great Recession later, that original plan is still on track. It's doable, but discipline and patience are the keys.
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Yahoo Reader
2 hours ago
This is the reason ALL these enormous bunch of shops, eateries, specialty stores thrive. Americans spend every frigging dime that they make on frivolous things. America has too much of everything! I've heard many say "you only live once." True, but I don't want to gorge myself everyday, smoke, do drugs, have several tattoos and piercings, designer clothes, new cars, all the latest tech gadgets and just plain spend like there is no tomorrow. I am taking care of my health, which we all should do. I don't want to be old, sick, and poor. Although I do realize that some people are just plain born into poverty, and sometimes is the fault of poor choices that others have made or are just lazy and live off the government, whether it be local or state or whatever. I have had no wage increase in 10 years, and no cost of living due to frozen wages, as many are experiencing. I am now 64 yrs. old and am surviving on a yearly income of $34K. I have 10% taken out for 401K with a company match of 6%. With taxes and insurance out also, I live on roughly $21K. I also have a mortgage and a vehicle payment because recently I traded vehicles because of not wanting to retire with an over 22year old vehicle. I will continue to work at least another 4 or 5 years. (The Lord willing!) I LIVE within my means!!!! I WILL make it!! I don't have much, but would help a person truly in need if I had to.
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E
3 hours ago
This article is stupid and written by fool financial advisors who want to steal your money. For lower income people they are failing to factor in inflation and for everyone else they are failing to factor in taxes on both wages and retirement savings.....which will ONLY continue to go up faster than wages do. The only ones making out in this country anymore are permanent welfare mongers and illegals. Their tax payer funded retirement plans start at the age of 18 and continues to grow while they live their life long vacation.
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2013
4 hours ago
My husband and I are 35 and 30 with 1 child. We are on track according to this. The medians listed here are very sad but not surprising. Most of our friends save nothing for retiremenf but I actually know only 1 person who mathematically can NOT save. Most of it is all choices. We have friends, teachers mind you, who are shopping for a 350k range house right now. Another friend who buys a new car every 2 years never ever without a car payment. Loads more getting their nails, hair done plus monthly massages. Eating out every other day or ordering lunch out every single work day.
My husband and I make a middle class income of 90k combined which in Chicago is actually not that much. We enjoy hiking, biking, games, going to thd beach, park, all free. I love to cook and will utilize my crock pot and freezer for this. We save restaurants for special occasions. I am a 30 year old woman who has only got her nails and hair done once in my life, for my wedding! We do not have cable, therr are sooo many services now, Vue, Hulu, Netflix etc that I wonder how Comcast is stil in business
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G.W. Bush
32 minutes ago
Guess I was fortunate to have been young before the trappings of modern day technology. I'm always amazed to talk to young people and find out they spend $250 to $350/month on technology that did nor exist even 20 years ago. Cable TV and "smart phones" along with the data plan are a HUGE drain on monthly finances.
Notorious and Unsavory
5 hours ago
Back in the 90's and early 00's I use to wonder how my "peers" could afford BMWs, Mercedes, beach houses and expensive vacations. They all thought I was poor which was kind of lonely for me being single, but having been divorced at 30, I had to live frugally. I married my second wife when I was her first husband ran off years earlier and left her with a child and a mortgage, people thought she was poor because she lived frugally. Well I retired at 54, 3 years ago and she will be retiring in 6 weeks. People think we are rich because we live frugally but always seem to be doing stuff. I guess the really could afford all the stuff the were financing in their 30's. We live below our means, we own small cars, not because we are environmentalists but because we don't car about status, just getting from point A to point B, we camp and go on cheap cruises (Carnival), and neither of us go to malls, ever. A few weeks ago a guy called into a financial advice show, he had just bought a $105,000 RV and wanted to know if he should take the money out of his retirement account, he told the radio guy his assets and I was thinking, he can't afford that RV, I'm pulling in twice what he has and I didn't like spending $300 on my tent. But I guess a dude like that is too good for a tent. Well I'm off to go fix my bicycle, we are going on a long ride to a nice lunch spot, our expensive date for the weekend!
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Pat Sands
1 hour ago
I don't have much saved for retirement, but I did put my 4 kids through college.
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Sam
7 hours ago
I made the same last year as I did 17 years ago doing the exact same job. Cost of food hasn't gone down. Cost of utilities hasn't gone down. Mortgage payment hasn't gone down. Car payment and auto insurance costs haven't gone down. Now I'm forced to buy increasingly expensive health insurance yet I'm supposed to be saving more? That's hilarious. Where is this magic money supposed to come from? Wages have gone beyond stagnant and have now reached completely putrid. You're almost better off not working and living off the government.
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Bob
2 hours ago
What if I get $50000 a year in retirement? Do I need any savings?
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me
4 hours ago
I'd say the stats are far worse for women especially divorced ones-they get their #$%$ handed to them sacrifice for their children never put themselves first and I know of many who are virtually working paycheck to paycheck in their 60's, Shameful society we live in where you have men making more than women and women doing the bulk of raising the children. Deadbeat dads are the new normal.
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Sara
5 hours ago
The mean vs the median shows the extreme wealth disparity in the US. We needed to tax the rich more since they refuse to pay employees decent wages, but instead those moron employees voted republican.
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Sakura
3 hours ago
Perhaps "keeping up with the Joneses" is the reason you have no savings.
We get what we deserve in the end unless you're royalty...and yes, before anyone "pines in", is a Trump. Nonetheless, only the wise survive.
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Michael
3 hours ago
Do these numbers include folks on welfare or disability? If so that screws up both the median and mean %s. These people are essentially retired already. Do these numbers include non-retirement assets?
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NP
9 hours ago
Even people in third world countries save a lot more than that, while making easily 4-5 times less than what an average American makes. The reason for Americans not saving is simple - the f'ed up economics of extreme capitalism. I would love to explain but it will take a book. In short, consume a lot less, buy local, focus on good education, get rid of those credit cards and live well within your means. And keep demanding better from the government - education and healthcare shouldn't be half as expensive as it is now (this also means stop looking at taxes as evil).
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Mildly Amused
2 hours ago
But I thought the Government will take care of me ? I work, they take taxes on that money, I invest, they take taxes on that, & when I die, they again tax that. Should they not invest in me as I supply all of their funds for supporting those that refuse to work ?
NoGuff
4 hours ago
First of all retirement is a waste of human resources. If you re able you should have your own business, an alien concept for many robotic Americans these days, and build that enterprise and work it as long as you re able in order to be productive, What are you a freaking race horse? Retired. Retired from life eh?
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EACF
12 hours ago
Personally, I wish that in HS (at least mine didn't) they promote this type of economic planning, anything to plant the seed of it just putting away 5-10-15% of what you make early on, but also the wisdom of starting a life insurance policy before you get old and pre existing catches up -- so much that the average joe (like me) didn't get exposed to (my fault as well) but when you finally start
making decent scratch, the old saying come to fruition -- the more you make the more you spend.
And I live frugally, have no debt, Lau cash for everything but the note on my home, but my problem is health care cost (even well before the ACA) and out of pocket meds (child with special needs and a 2x time cancer survivor wife) -- it is very hard to play catch up.
Not making excuse, just adding my two cents as a 50 year old who chose to cash out my 401 to start a business.
The business is now 9 years strong, and doing well -- but I know it may sound crazy but the tax burden out on a small business, minimal wrote offs (compared to the d days) and payroll tax, insurance bonds, health care cost, state and local revenue taxes, it sometimes makes me think I would be better off making less and not in business.
Many good useful comments on this post, very refreshing (and depressing!).
But kids today need to be educated better the what I got when young. Maybe it was only my poor school district of white trash, but the life insurance part of to me one of the biggest under appreciated mistakes.
Good luck to all.
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Mark
7 hours ago
Don't worry Deplorable's, Trump will fix everything!
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Ken Wilson
13 hours ago
Too many people make the mistake of trying to put money into savings AFTER expenses. The key is to set a percentage aside for savings FIRST, then budget your lifestyle on what's left.
Personally, I started out as a teenager saving 25%. Once I got married and established a family, I was gradually forced to whittle that down to 12%. However, because my salary grew with the passing of time, and because I never stopped saving at least 12%, after 45 years of gainful employment, my savings account is in very good shape.
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S
Sporty
7 hours ago
I'm 52 and don't have anywhere near 6 times my annual salary saved. That's absurd. I guess if you never do anything, buy anything or go anywhere or have children it's possible. Not in our household. But I'll have a pension, Social Security and a 401k so we should be fine
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james
9 hours ago
I lived and worked all over the world. Things I noticed is, we buy houses we cannot afford, don't save, drink to much, buy to much get divorced to much and don't take of our health. We have the European unhappy gene from the tired, sick and poor that came to the US long time ago.
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Jeffrey
10 hours ago
Republicans are idiots.
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Bruce
14 hours ago
Another "one size fits all" rule of thumb. People with paid off homes and no other debt will do much better than the numbers suggest. Those owning rental property will also do better since assets outside of "savings" are not counted. Better do your own research and not rely on quick and dirty estimates.
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Dennis
13 hours ago
With WWIII coming why worry about it ?
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JackS
2 hours ago
Spend less than you earn. Figure it out.
RONALD
2 hours ago
The secret? Never let your wants become your needs.
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Clay R
3 hours ago
I wonder hey the count pensions. A pension isn't money you saved. I don't have a ton of money saved; however, I have a pension. In fact, it's the best pension I know of. I am retired military and working a second career now.
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Past Generation
3 hours ago
People could retire if they did not pay so much in taxes for people who don't work and people in other countries. We can not carry the world, and take care of ourselves!
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Johnny
3 hours ago
My largest savings account is with the IRS.
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mike p
7 hours ago
I heard this a couple of years ago "If you spend more money on your cell phone bill than your retirement" ... think about it ....
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I'll tell ya later
13 hours ago
War equals money...trumps associates will benefit greatly from it..
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tom
2 minutes ago
Only saving your yearly salary by 30 is truly stupid and terrible. My son is only 22 and has $34,000 invested. His annual salary right now is about $36,000. He is saving 40 % of his pretax salary every month. His goal is to be able to buy a home when he gets married ( not even a girlfriend in sight now ) and to be able to retire at 50 to 55. The numbers above are truly bad bad bad for America.
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PsiForce7
9 minutes ago
1st of all, some people do get an advantage if their able to stay home with their parents (like other cultures do), or they inherit their family home. I wasn't one of those. Once I began making $150k before taxes a little over $100k after taxes I stayed true and remained in my $121k house in southern TX, this meant I could save $50k a year easily and $60k with some effort. Yes, I need $40k a year to live comfy. I gave up my Chase banker/finance/project manager job where I was underpaid and went into the auto repair industry. In 10 years I saved over $500k in liquid savings and my retirement thanks to investments grew to $500k. Interestingly enough I don't feel like I've saved enough. I've been lucky to have excellent insurance and no health issues so far. I did buy my ultra reliable car brand new (with the latest tech offered at the time) but I drive a car for 7 to 10 years. Now if you think about all this, I still don't have 10 times my annual salary saved. I don't see how that's possible to do for most Americans unless you live below your annual income (try doing that if you're income is only $24k - $50k, about the mean for the nation), and/or you're not able to have a financial advisor help you to successfully invest your money. I don't mind the level I'm taxed at provided those funds are put to better use such as education and health care, I refuse to pay any more than a third though. I started late thanks to my own spending issues and being underpaid for decades. When I finally woke up from my spending coma and subsequently understood I had to leave my job in search for something better I was 50, it took the next 10 years to save what I have now. As the saying goes: If I only knew then (and had the courage) what I know now.
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DOUGLAS
32 minutes ago
More conservative, republican #$%$. Government is always your problem. Problem is YOU. SAVING is your responsibility, not the government. What's the #$%$ line the conservatives spew all the time "individuals need to pick themselves up,NOT expect government handouts. After all,THEY-REPUBLICANS want to also dismantle MEDICARE AND SOCIAL SECURITY. California leads the way for AMERICA because we PAY for what we want and support our values of opportunity for all, inclusiveness and believe in diversity, science and climate change, UNLIKE RED STATES AND ALL REPUBLICANS. Since REPUBLICAN GOD Reagan the mantra is "TRICKLE DONE ECONOMICS". Give the money to the wealthiest and the little folks(meaning middle class and below) fend for the scraps, and fight one another for the pennies left over.
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Steve
37 minutes ago
55. home paid. $1.2 million IRA, $300k ROTH, $1.1 million taxable accounts, double tax free munis bond ladder, preferred stock and corporate bonds. Spins off about $50k in interest every year that is swept in to checking. enjoying encore career making $65k for 9 months + health insurance. Pension kicks in at 65. I am in good health so plan is not to take SS until 67. I earned a Ph.D. got a good corporate job, saved early and often and worked my #$%$ off.
Term Limits
1 hour ago
Need to have 5% of salary taken out of salary. Also had bonuses deposited. Managed professionally in the market.My employer did this every year and if it were not for their foresight I would be living on Social Security. Left with enough to live comfortably with no current worries. Pension outside the company so it did depend on performance Work & my 250,000 FDIC & Medicare payments would have given me a small fortune in addition. Instead after 10 years I get a return on SS &&&
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David
2 hours ago
I know a lot of people struggle to make ends meet, let alone save anything. But, on the other hand, lots of folks - all my inlaws for instance - with modest incomes think nothing of spending $140 every few weeks to get their hair done, or buying every new electronic gadget for everyone in the family, or traveling to Disneyland three or four times a year, or buying $600 prom dresses, or flying somewhere fancy for vacations. Of course they have trouble paying their rent - they'll never own a house, their water gets turned off at least twice a year, etc., etc. all with zero dollars in any kind of savings account. They say they're "living in the moment" or "you never know what's going to happen in the future so live today and worry about tomorrow tomorrow." My wife is quite a bit younger than I am so I probably won't be around to see it, but there will come a day when all these freeloaders will be living with her. What a pack of losers.
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Wolf
2 hours ago
Just think if the Social Security and Medicare Systems had not taken more than 1/6 of your income. The retirement that you could provide would be more than 3X to 5X of what is presented by Social Security. You could even afford your own medical insurance in the later years that is far superior to that offered by the Medicare System. Clearly sees welfare programs of a Socialist System are an absolute disaster and that does not address the basic laws that they violate in their implementation.
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stacker
2 hours ago
Why is it every few days this and similar articles are trotted out for public consumption. People who do not or cannot save for a decent retirement do not read these articles. They are either to busy trying to earn a living or spending what they have. Sound advice is for the willing not the stupid or lazy or unlucky. Through no fault of their own many people cannot save for a retirement and have to work as long as they can. e.g. I have a friend who after graduating collage had to support his mother and younger sister for almost 12 years because of their ill health and inability to earn enough money to support themselves after his father died. Between forming his own family and supporting them he never had (nor will) amass any retirement money fund for the future. He is now pushing 50 with the grim fact that he will have to work until he is unable to do so. No amount of "advice" is going to change his problem which was caused by events out of his control.
I would respectfully suggest that these articles stop being published as frequently as in the past because they cannot help in most cases.
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Dave
2 hours ago
Fidelity needs to compare on the basis of monthly income mean and average compared to monthly expenditures and include monthly savings. The statistics are available if not within Fidelity it can be found in Department of Labor numbers.
Like for example the top 20% of income earners save 30 to 40 times more then the bottom 80% of income earners. Also isolate the average household income after age 65 and especially indicate what happens to household income after age 75 representing a significant drop because now a spouse has passed away and it is a one person household with the majority being women show the average monthly income for this group it may scare women enough that they save more and cut back on spending in their working years. EQUAL PAY ADJUSTMENTS FOR WOMEN WOULD HELP SS benefits to some degree upon retirement
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Frank
3 hours ago
I assume these numbers are for those people who do not have retirement plans. For example: I receive $2000.00 a month from the Air Force, $2000.00 a month from Civil Service retirement, $1500.00 a month from Social Security (my wife receives $600.00) and $600.00 a month from the VA for disability pay because of Agent Orange disease. Total monthly income: $6700.00. The VA payment and Social Security is not taxed unless my wife is gambling, again! The house and the truck are paid for. Oh, because of 71 I have had to tap into my TSP account and take $3000.00 ($200.00 net) from that account. I guess it is enough even for Northern California..
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Grizz
3 hours ago
How the F can the average family save jack squat when they are paying so much in taxes, insurance and soaring food prices. My healthcare insurance went from $450 a month in 2008 to $1400 a month this year ($11K deductible). What middle class family can afford that? I blame the Democrats. They only care about the idiots of our society who get everything for free anyway. They'll never include me in their stats. My family will end up not having health insurance this year. I CAN'T AFFORD IT!
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Smartest Guy in the Room
3 hours ago
I'm 59 and just retired last year after 31 years working at America's largest defense contractor. My 4/3 pool home in a beautiful wooded neighborhood in a country club is paid off and recently appraised for about $485K. I have approx. $1.85 million in liquid equity market assets. I have 2 kids in college with their college costs fully funded. I have no debt. Given the above my net assets are about $2.335 million. The moral of my story? Get your engineering degree(s).
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AlyssaA
4 hours ago
I think needing 10 times your salary is outdated...some need more and some need less. Here is my reality--at retirement my job provides health insurance to both the worker and their spouse for life---so we don't have those costs. You also may want to look at how much SS might provide you too. Also---many of us will have our houses paid off---and can afford to pay cash for decent used cars during retirement---so no more car payments.....student loan debt will be gone too---you really have to look at your bills as they are now and figure out what bills you will likely have when you retire. On top of that---the 10 times salary rule is set up for those who make it to 95. Looking at my family health history---nobody has ever made it past 85 as stroke and other illness runs in our family....so being the realist I am---I'm not planning for 95. It's a numbers game and every family is different.
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John
4 hours ago
Some commenters here will tell you how they saved plenty for retirement ahead of time. Others insist that in our rotten miserable society it's no use even trying.
If you wish to prosper in old age or sooner, then the choice of examples to follow is clear. Do as successful people do. Work steadily, save consistently, live frugally. This is easier said than done, but is a far worthier way to live than always falling short and blaming others for it.
Steve
4 hours ago
Most people cannot afford to save at all, that is what most advisers don't get. Ten years ago I started out in a new job for only $24K gross a year and after deductions I was lucky to bring in $710.00 every two weeks with four kids. we managed but no way was there any money for savings. Today I Gross about $68K and saving is still hard, I have managed to save around $88K but a renewed policy in retirement offering from my employer will only yeild me another $130K over the next 24 years until I retire....that is long way from 10 times my salary. Don't get me wrong, I am super grateful for what I have, I just don't think most financial advisers get it.
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Tom
4 hours ago
It's all a Gment Hustle, If Social Security was being used like it was designed to be used , we would all be doing better @ retirement. But as usual, when Gment gets involved, they raped the American public. Which is why they are giving all this money to illegals Immigrants, buying Votes & your Parents haven't rec'd a proper raise in their retirement funds EVER! My Mom Got a raise last year, it was $5.00 per month, Her Medicare went up, yep you guess it, $5.00 per month.. Who thinks a 5.00 per month raise is ok?? BLM thinks they should get a huge raise so they can be rude to people @ fast food chains & yet retired people, barely get by after working 60 years. The American Gment is no better than a third world dictatorship. They just do a better job of hiding their despicable behavior.
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Shawn
5 hours ago
Teach your kids how to save, and not just in a bankbook savings account but in the market. With there 401k when they start working. Teach them to plan for their future while living for today. Basic rule of thumb...save 10% of your salary when you first start working. Then the 90% becomes your normal every day income that you live on. Then teach them to increase that by 1% every five years. After working for 40+ years will have more than enough.
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Gary Brwn
5 hours ago
These articles always act like we are millionaires . We live in a world that was destroyed by corporate greed an government corrutption. The average American does not have a fighting chance. If you are under 50 move to Canada. They have the best system in the world. Universal healthcare. Retirement. Justin Trudeau has Canada on a progressive track
It is now the leader of the free world. It's really difficult to find any thing positive to say about where quality of life is going in the US. Get out while you can.
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Charlie b
5 hours ago
Excuse me but #$%$ do you do when - not if - the U$ dollar crashes like it almost did in 2008 and you just have a lifetime supply of TP (get the ones for the Family Pak). The U$A's inflation cannot keep rising like a rocket for 20, 30, or 40 more years so a loaf of bread will cost 10-20 dollars while wages recede or stall & the 1%ers have 95% of the U$ money. This crash is gonna come & a Great Depression repeat in inevitable - but will it be in YOUR "golden years" to make it your "tin can days" ?
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Daniel J
5 hours ago
Where is the fake news that Trump is in with the Russians, I don't think this is what they supposedly put Trump in power for, to bomb their allies, and isn't it strange they said there was no arms of mass destsuction in Iraq, I guess this is the same gas used by Asade was the same marsh gas that Sadam was using on Kurds in the North when Bush went into Iraq, think about it, the gas shows up again!
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Judy
6 hours ago
I know very little about finance and math was never my best subject. I did get some advice from my dad. He said that to save money, you need time and small amounts of money. So, I invested my raises. I picked a no-fee (or low fee) mutual fund. Whenever I got a nice tax return, a raise, or even birthday money, I kept a little and invested the rest. I did this over my 30+ year career. I was not a big earner. I retired at 55 and have loved being financially stable and having the time to enjoy life fully. It's hard to grasp the idea when you're young. Temptations are every where! However, it works!
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born
6 hours ago
Save my butt most people can't save any money they are lucky to have enough money to pay for gas to get to work so the state and feds can make money off us. Every time the cost of Living goes up 3 dollars a month everything ells goes up costing the people even more then before. So when 3 dollars a month extra and no instead of you paying 260 cents for milk you pay 4.75. Bread 2.00 a loaf now is 4 Gas 2.37 now 4 so no matter how much the cost goes up you still pay more then you had before. Rent goes up lightbill goes up so on taxes INS so on
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stefanos
7 hours ago
Some of us that have done well see these numbers and freak out. These people with little to nothing will be voting politicians that will have no issue raising taxes "for the good of the people". That is how socialism starts to take hold...wait we just had a president that was moving us down this road, and the current one that has different views is being vilified for every little thing he does including how he combs his hair. Wait for it people its coming. Think about it, without any safety net half the country has less than 10K for retirement. They will vote in the right crooks to bail them out.
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bobb
7 hours ago
We had 4 children couldn't afford much after tithing at our church but in our 30s we woke up and started saving too our vacations were tenting trips, our house is the same one we purchased 40 years ago now we find in retirement we don't really need much money but we have a lot!
So looking back the only thing is to have no debt at retirement and don't worry too much about the big nest egg just figure out a way to maintain your income in retirement. You will spend way less money except for medical but unless you become ill it doesn't matter.