The issue of retirement has become a generational matter. With a substantial amount of Americans not having money for their winter years, and the newer generation foregoing the entire concept of retirement, some experts purport there is a crisis transpiring in front of our eyes.
A new study by Wells Fargo discovered that middle-class adults have only $20,000 in retirement savings, which is definitely far away from their ultimate retirement goal of $250,000 they believe they’ll need to sustain their present day standard of living throughout their senior years.
Financial experts say the most troubling aspect of the survey isn’t so much the paucity of accrued savings, but rather the significant number of people not saving at all. According to the survey, a little more than one-third (34 percent) of middle-class adults report not contributing any money to retirement savings, IRAs and or 401(k).
Among the current crop of retirement savers, the average sum of money being put away is $125 per month. However, close to two-thirds (61 percent) said they’re not sacrificing a lot to have some money for retirement, while 38 percent conceded to considerable sacrifice just to save money.
Here are some of the other findings from the survey:
- 22 percent would rather die than outlive their savings.
- 55 percent are going to save later to make up for not saving now.
- Half of middle class adults in their 50s say they’ll work in their 80s.
- 31 percent believe they won’t have enough money in their retirement to survive.
- 72 percent amid they should have started saving earlier.
“Saving for retirement isn’t easy. It requires sacrifice, and it’s not something people can push off and hope to achieve later in life,” said Joe Ready, director of Institutional Retirement and Trust, in a statement. “If people in their 20s, 30s or 40s aren’t saving today, they are losing the benefit of time compounding the value of their money. That growth can’t be made up later, so people have to commit early in life to make savings a regular discipline year after year – it is the only way most people will achieve their financial goals to carry them through retirement.”
Bottom line: save early and as often as possible.
