Here's how much the average family in their 50s has saved for retirement

CNBC ^ | 04/22/2017 | Kathleen Elkins

[SeekAndFind]

By age 50, your golden years are just around the corner.

To be financially ready to retire by 67, retirement-plan provider Fidelity Investments says you should aim to have eight times your salary saved by age 60.

Are Americans on track?

According to a report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), many Americans have some catching up to do. The mean retirement savings of a family between 50 and 55 years old is $124,831. For families with members between 56 and 61, the mean retirement savings is $163,577.

But those numbers aren't representative of the state of American retirement. 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 than the mean.

The median for families between 50 and 55 is only $8,000. For families between 56 and 61, it's $17,000.

[null and void]

Excellent! Congratulations! I had a 6-1/2 years without a paycheck (worked for a couple start-ups that never made payroll) Pretty much wiped me out, I had a whopping $20 in the bank when I got my first paycheck from my new job. Doing great now, hope you have similar success!

[virgil]

Been working contract for the last 4 years. It’s okay except when I’m between jobs like now. I get bored and rather be working and making money. I have 401k savings, but too young to draw on it without huge penalties. I’ll go as long as I can without drawing on it. Everybody tells me it empties out pretty fast. I expect I’ll be working as long as my mind and body allows, and my skills are competitive. I just prefer to have money coming in rather than always going out. That’s my “retirement” strategy.

[tflabo]

Yep compound interest over time. I really like the idea of having all young workers earning paychecks to be automatically enrolled in savings or investment plans. Kids should be taught some courses in school as well as at home on how to handle finanes. Ignorance is poverty and government dependence meaning taxpayers footing the bills for lazy incompetents.

[snooter55]

Sorry to say, but : THAT WAS HIS INTENTION !! TO SCREW US ALL-’specially da white folk !!

Snoot

[bicyclerepair]

Thanks you guys.
I love FR and all our peers here.

[RooRoobird20]

My husband and I are 61, we saved up $2 million, he’s retired and I will retire in a year. We are not lotto winners and our house was paid off almost 14 years ago. We have had middle class incomes. We’ve inherited nothing from anyone.

The key is to live below your means, pay yourself first, and save and invest over a long period of time. The biggest steps we took: always maxxing out IRA’s and 401k’s, paying off and living in the same very nice but modestly sized house and not buying brand new fancy cars. We are not tacky frugal tightwads at all. We’ve always lived comfortably and generously. We just decided early on that we did not have to keep up with the Joneses. Of course having good health so that we could work for many years has been a blessing.

[factoryrat]

I can’t save anything. The FED takes all of my extra income for taxes.

Work harder, millions of welfare bums, illegal aliens, and deadbeat single mothers need YOU! to pay for all of their wants and needs.

And all of these bottom feeder parasites vote straight democrat to guarantee that the government will continue to confiscate your earnings to finance their deviant lifestyles.

[granite]

Only twenty more years to go for me. I’m 65 now.

[Cementjungle]

I wonder how many Millennials (and possibly Gen X'ers) actually have NEGATIVE savings... i.e. college debt and other debt (credit cards, car loans, etc.).

The only solution of course is another far-left president who will forgive everyone's debts and let them all keep going to school until they're 80 years old.

[proxy_user]

Believe me, it is brutal. My road to retirement was a forced march up a steep hill.

Now I can relax...maybe.

[ConservativeMind]

Please keep positive and may God bless and guide you.

[TexasTransplant]

*** “I could easily retire today. I work because I choose to” ***

I could retire today as well, I would have to give up Fishing, Beer, Dining Out and Women.
Then I could spend 100% of my time desperately searching for a reason to live.
The Morning Coin Toss sometimes gives me the shakes but then I cheer up, I can still flip a coin! (Can’t do that under the turf)

[Keyhopper]

I’ll be able to retire a couple of weeks after my death

[TexasTransplant]

*** “I’ll be able to retire a couple of weeks after my death” ***

That is what I call a PLAN!

[Mears]

Good luck !

.

[Cementjungle]

When I was 50, I actually had 10.64 times my then annual salary in hard-dollar savings. By the time I retired at age 61, I had 24.45 times my final salary.

That's a tough one to calculate. I semi-retired at 47 with a decent six figure income, but kept working after that (freelance, consulting, etc.) long after that... but only made half as much (but had 1/20'th of the stress!).

so.. when I completely stop generating income (from working) what "salary" do I count? Do we count as "savings" just our cash/stocks, or do we also count investment properties that are generating income? Does equity in our personal residence count?

[alexander_busek]

When I was 50, I actually had 10.64 times my then annual salary in hard-dollar savings. By the time I retired at age 61, I had 24.45 times my final salary. But it is very tough to save this much, I’m probably the only one here who did it.

While also raising several children? Commendable! Were the college fees a problem?

Regards,

[roadcat]

The key is to live below your means, pay yourself first, and save and invest over a long period of time.

You two are doing everything right. Let me ask you a question, of something my wife and I were discussing today. I have a life insurance policy, not worth much, just $100,000 (also have others of lesser amount). In my late 60s. The premiums keep going up every year, now at $165/month. My wife was talking about getting rid of it because it's getting more expensive. But I told her that is what the insurance companies are counting on, for seniors to abandon it. That over the next ten years our outlay would be less than $20G for a $100G payout if I die. Over the next twenty years our outlay would be less than $40G for a $100G payout if I die. Good chance I may die within the next 10 or 20 years. Good gambling odds for a payout. If I live longer, so what, most of the money comes back to her in insurance benefits. We have the means to pay the premiums, not in debt and have savings.

So would you stop the insurance payments? This is another reason why people should save for retirement, so they shouldn't have to abandon life insurance payments.

[combat_boots]

Sending good thoughts!

[buckalfa]

"or depend solely on Social Security"

I had to retire two years early due to health. Very lucky to have no debt thanks to the wife so social security is sufficient for our current needs. All bets are off though if inflation rears its ugly head or another health crisis occurs.