Average Retirement Savings by Age, How you Compare, and What to Do About it
An average retirement may not be your cup of tea, so here’s how to step up your game.
Here’s a terrifying statistic: 48% of all American households headed by someone over 55 years of age have no retirement savings whatsoever.
Another one: The average Social Security benefit this year is $1,543.
Do the math. If you have no savings and you’re an average earner, you’ll be living on $1,543 a month in retirement. That means you’ll be moving to Akron Ohio, El Paso Texas or Grand Forks North Dakota where the cost of housing and food is low enough to make ends meet.
On a positive note, if you have any amount of money saved for your retirement, you’re ahead of half the households in the USA. If not, you can start saving now and leapfrog into the upper tier. But being ahead of a bunch of people who have no savings doesn’t mean you’re ready to retire. It doesn’t even mean you’re on track.
Before you despair, let’s see where you stand, and what you can do about it.
Average retirement savings
Average household savings by age is shown in the chart below. An average couple age 55 years old would have about…
