Posted on 02/22/2026 7:24:36 PM PST by Libloather
How's this for a somber retirement forecast: The typical American worker has less than $1,000 saved for retirement, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security (NIRS).
"The data are clear: Outside of high earners, Americans are choosing survival over savings and hoping to catch up later," NIRS executive director Dan Doonan told Yahoo Finance. "Even for those approaching retirement age — 55-to-64-year-olds — the median amount saved for retirement is only $30,000. We're looking at a looming crisis. These aren't just statistics — they represent millions of families who are doing everything right but still can't get ahead."
The report analyzes workers with 401(k) and other retirement plan savings, as well as the millions of US workers who lack access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
The median savings — half have saved more and half have saved less — for all employed adults ages 21 to 64 tallied $955, per the nonpartisan group, which analyzed data from the US Census Bureau's Survey of Income and Program Participation.
Employer plans are a difference-maker
When you look exclusively at Americans enrolled in an employer-provided retirement plan, the numbers are more encouraging.
In Fidelity's 26,000 defined-contribution plans at companies across the country, covering 24.8 million participants, account balances last year clocked in at record highs, with an average 401(k) balance of $144,400 and an average IRA account balance of $137,902.
For these folks, the average 401(k) savings rate was 9.5%, and the average employer contribution rate was 4.7%, bringing the combined employee and employer 401(k) contributions to a record high of 14.2%. Fidelity's suggested savings rate is 15%.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
I understood compounding well and it worked. But now my income taxes are also compounding.
You are not joking. Income tax compounds faster than interest compounding. The government does not want middle class ascending into rich class.
Probably millions live on welfare and do not save. They expect that easy welfare will always be available.
Buy stock. I had little when I started and was able to retire at 63 just 12 years later.
In 2009 I had $13,000 and bought Ford stock which tripled in 1 year. In 2014 I bought Apple after the 7-1 split then sold it after it rose 47% for Netflix which also split 7-1 and went up 30% then started to go below the $100 split price so I sold at a $11,000 loss and I bought Nvidia at $62.25 and held it for 2 years till aug 2018 and bought AMD in sept which I still own. If I had waited 1 month I could have bought 1/3 more AMD stock as the price had fallen....
I made a few mistakes with buying on margin and selling nvidia too soon as it split 10-1 in 2025. I could have had several millions more.
Right now I am waiting on the tariff trade talks to work out and the AI to cause the stock to keep going up as OpenAI and AMD made a deal last year that OpenAI would buy AMD stock for 1 penny apiece if they met 4 levels each agreed on (no details on them I know).
AMD stock has to get to $300 this year then up to $600 in 4 years with each level to be met. The companies thinking their plan to work or they would not be betting so much on the deal.
SpaceX will have an IPO sometime mid to late 2026 so I am waiting on that and will sell my AMD as I expect the SpaceX stock will at least double but will likely go much higher in the first few weeks.
They also own Starlink and it may be spun out as a IPO someday.
That is a term Republicans should use in lieu of “taxes.” The government CONFISCATES your earnings, which is actually your labor! I try to explain that to people but their eyes glaze over.
Too cautious to put your savings into something as "risky" as a S&P 500 index fund - so instead you put them into something "secure" like...?
A tin can buried in the backyard?!
Regards,
Since you're sharing your story, let me share mine.
Among my many other stock market and real estate investments (some profitable, some not so profitable), I began purchasing Ford Senior Debentures (stock ticker: F-PA) about that same time. They had a nominal value of $25, and paid dividends of $1.875 annually (= 7.5% p.a.). But they were then selling for about $8-9 a share (bankruptcy was feared), meaning I was effectively getting roughly 25% p.a.
In additional to plowing back my quarterly dividends into new shares, I also purchased additional shares from my own savings.
Within a short time, F-PA amounted to roughly half my entire account!
The stock price slowly worked its way back up - to $11 a share, $13 a share, etc. - but I kept at it. When the share price had just about reached its nominal value, FORD exercised its option and forcibly bought the debentures back, which disappointed me somewhat.
I may have made individual investments that (unexpectedly) skyrocketed and delivered phenomenal short-term profits, but no one such stock ever accounted for more than, say, 5% of my total - and it was usually a one-time thing yielding a windfall profit. But my FORD senior debentures were the one investment that I consciously pursued with determination over a longer period of time, and it really paid off in absolute terms.
(And the one time, in 15 years, that I ever asked my M-L account manager for her advice on my picks, in the mid-teens, when FORD was offering a voluntary buy-back for I think it was $15 a share, she explained that M-L was "mediating" that offer and she thus was forbidden to voice an opinion. That wised me up a lot!)
Regards,
Pay yourself first as long as you can afford to. Put that money to work and just let it happen. Watch it but don’t play with it unless you know how to reconfigure. Volatility is a bitch.
Yep. compounding and savings work wonders. Don’t remember exact numbers from recent WSJ article - but people over 70 (like me) now have 32% of total U.S. wealth.
Hence - Dems look to wealth tax
Rather redistribute myself. But it is hard to find good organizations. T2T is my favorite right now. Thoughts?
What’s the crisis? Stupid people? I don’t give shxt about idiots. They deserve absolutely nothing from the government. No welfare, no healthcare.. nothing.
Work hard and take some responsibility for yourself.
That’s scary ... $955.
She’s counting on you to pick up the slack later on; count on it. (My sister and I, family slack-picker-uppers, could tell you stories...)
That’s huge .. living below your means for a few decades. Then when you’re retired you can reap the profits and live a (relatively) worry-free life.
Are you a “Landman” fan? Such an interesting field of work.
Smart man.
They for sure don’t teach economics or personal finances in school anymore. I had my kids take a Dave Ramsey class in high school lol
Anyway, my 24 year old son has $25k in savings (he puts in $500-1000 a month), and just started contributing to his company matching retirement. He has had to tighten his belt to do so, including learning to cook from scratch. He brought on a third roommate which also helps.
Sounds like he was raised well.
You probably don’t have to live destitute or as a miser though. Most people will spend all they have even if they have more than they need. If you become accustomed to that you will find the pattern hard to change. The “sacrifice” can be minor, many of us probably live too high.
You also need to save between 20 and 25% of your gross earnings if you hope to live in retirement similarly to how you might live working if you don’t have a pension plan. That is just a cold hard fact.
According to actuary tables I will live about as long in retirement as I did working. Time will tell. I am certain though that nobody will take care of me but me. I am afraid that most of the Boomer generation will die destitute, at the mercy of family or someone or a ward of the state.
Just last week someone dumped a little man in a wheel chair at the front door of an area nursing home in the cold and drove away. He sat huddled in the corner of the lobby waiting for someone to sort out his fate.
So tell us, how is your sister going to “get on it” and save any meaningful amount towards retirement @ age 59 when she hasn’t saved anything yet?
What advice did you offer?
“Cell phones over savings” is more like it. My sibling has no savings but has a much nicer phone than me.
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