Zero for Retirement

Depressing news of the week........

The bad news is that almost half of Americans approaching retirement have nothing saved in a 401(k) or other individual account. The good news is that the new estimate, from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, is slightly better than a few years earlier.

Of those 55 and older, 48 percent had nothing put away in a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan or an individual retirement account, according to a GAO estimate for 2016 that was released Tuesday. That’s an improvement from the 52 percent without retirement money in 2013.

Two in five of such households did have access to a traditional pension, also known as a defined benefit plan. However, 29 percent of older Americans had neither a pension nor any assets in a 401(k) or IRA account.

(https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-26/almost-half-of-older-americans-have-zero-in-retirement-savings)


How are these folks going to survive their 70's, 80's, 90's?


Forbes.com (Andrew Biggs) presents some additional insights on those statistics:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewbiggs/2019/03/27/no-half-of-older-americans-arent-without-retirement-savings/


And Dave Ramsey has some words of advice for those finding themselves headed for this situation:
https://www.daveramsey.com/blog/60-years-old-zero-retirement


Grace & Peace & Love to you all -

Matt