1 in 3 Americans have less than $5,000 saved for retirement

CNBC ^ | 8/27/018 | Kathleen Elkins

[TangledUpInBlue]

The vast majority of Americans, 78 percent, say they're "extremely" or "somewhat" concerned about not having enough money for retirement, according to Northwestern Mutual's 2018 Planning & Progress Study.

And for good reason: A shocking 21 percent of Americans have nothing at all saved for the future, and another 10 percent have less than $5,000 tucked away, the study finds.

That means about a third of Americans have only a few thousand dollars, or less, put away for their golden years.

[TangledUpInBlue]

This seems ludicrous to me. I started a new job in June and began my 401K immediately putting in the maximum amount that my employer will match (6%)

I already have almost $3,000 since then and these people don't even have $5K? How can that possibly be if you've worked for 20-30 years?

Something isn't right.

[Drango]

YIKES...

[Genoa]

It equals not saving for retirement. Random cash on hand.

[AlaskaErik]

That’s why I see people much older than me waiting on tables and working at convenience stores. And I’m 64 and I’ve been retired for over four years. But, I knew retirement would come one day, and I planned for it. Now I live a life of leisure, without any financial worries whatsoever.

[pgkdan]

And for good reason: A shocking 21 percent of Americans have nothing at all saved for the future, and another 10 percent have less than $5,000 tucked away, the study finds.

And more than 1 in 3 Americans are 30 or younger...

[Zuben Elgenubi]

That means about a third of Americans have only a few thousand dollars, or less, put away for their golden years.

Ergo, a vote for Bernie Sanders.

[Genoa]

….which is sad, because Bernie won’t help them any more than Obama did.

[simpson96]

bookmark

[PGR88]

I’m going to become a ward of the state

[DungeonMaster]

Are these the same Americans who can’t name any rights in the Bill of Rights and who think Capitalism is Fascism?

Color me shocked.

[TangledUpInBlue]

Me too. My wife is a bit older than me and I’m 50. I plan on retiring in 8-10 years if all works out. I want to enjoy not work.

[2ndDivisionVet]

50% of American workers make $30,000 a year or less in the richest country that has ever existed.

[Genoa]

It’s not what they make, it’s what they spend.

[janetjanet998]

In related news... my local Starbucks looks very packed everyday and did you hear about the latest yearly version of Iphone? Got to have it, even though mine is only a year old!

[Texas resident]

It depends on who was asked. If it is 1 in 3, they probably are looking at people 18 and up and those dependent on the government handouts to get through the day.

I would bet that the numbers are a bit off.

[Vigilanteman]

If these jaybirds would be realistic, then people actually might save something. There "experts" recommend saving at least $1 million.

If you live modestly, about 25% of that amount is enough especially if you flee expensive places like California and Connecticut.

Too many people look at these pompus experts and say "I'll never get there, so why should I save anything?"

The "experts" love skimming your retirement accounts to ensure they get paid first.

Few of them actually earn it.

[rightwingintelligentsia]

It’s not what they make, it’s what they spend.

Bingo. I know people who are barely scraping by, yet they insist on buying/leasing new cars and taking several vacations a year.

[mkleesma]

A lot of reasons:

- huge debts incurred from previous medical procedures.
- put multiple kids through college.
- living in an area where real estate costs are shy high.
- wage increases each year from 1-3%

The biggie for me was medical - 200k in bills.

[2ndDivisionVet]

So you feel $30,000 is adequate to support a family in most parts of this country?

[grania]

It's a bit skewed as to the effect, even if it's true. A more important statistic would be first, how prepared are those over age 60 for retirement and then how prepared are those over 50 prepared for retirement. Public employees and others with automatic savings or pension plans may not be considering them as savings, so that would skew the number downward. Add to that people whose savings or opportunity to save were wiped out by the Great Recession.

I'd be more concerned about how much debt people have. What I'm seeing among my peers is that those who have no debt find ways to make do with the money they receive.

The real concern is those under age 40 (or so) who have college, auto and credit card debt, plus high mortgage payments. How will they ever pay all of that off in time to prepare for retirement? I know a lot of these "youngsters" who are smart about living within their present and future means, but a lot more who don't seem to be doing that.