Do you know what the odds of your retirement? If you have nothing saved up and you are in your 40s, they are not so good. But a new GOBankingRates survey has found that just 23% of workers have $10,000 or less saved up, and about one-third have nothing.
According to J.P. Morgan, by the time you are 30, you should have at least $16,000 or more saved up, provided you are earning the median income of $54,000 and change. But over 65% of workers that fit this demographic are falling well short of this goal.
Key culprits, according to the study, include: credit card and student loan debt, lower wages, cost of raising children, and other financial obligations. The result is that many people feel this pinch on their budget and are unable to stash away the proper funds as a result.
A related by Edward Jones study found that a staggering 45% of workers in the US have not even saved up a penny for retirement yet. Just 36% even have plans to start saving. And 10% say they don't ever plan on saving. But experts agree that you really should start stashing cash in your early twenties.
In another related survey from Franklin Templeton, an astounding 55% of workers are planning on working during their retirement, and 30% of those between the ages of 18 and 24 don't ever plan to retire from the workforce.
Scarily, pre-retirement spending can increase by as much as 28% in the first five years, a number that can increase to as much as 44% in the first 11 years due to inflation.
Only 45% of workers are able to live on 70% of their pre-retirement income or less. The rest are up the creek with no paddle in sight.
The moral of the story is this: The sooner that you start saving, the better your future will look. Unless you happen to be independently wealthy, there's never been a better time like the present to start stashing your greenbacks.
Some say that the simplest way to do so is to start writing a check to your retirement account each month, and to treat that just like any other bill. If you have to go out less, dine in more and even cut out a few amenities to do so, at least you can take comfort in knowing that you will have a more livable future when it does arrive someday.