Retirement Myths
Saving for retirement can be challenging. You need to be disciplined and focused on the future if you hope to save enough money to see you through your golden years. You also need to be able to separate the truths about retirement saving from the lies.
Evidence suggests Americans are failing on all of the above counts. The average American family has just $5,000 set aside for retirement, and 43% of working-age Americans don’t have any retirement savings, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. Seventy percent of families have less than $50,000 in their 401(k). And lest you think younger workers with little in savings are skewing the numbers, consider this: Among households with members approaching retirement, the median savings balance is just $17,000. That’s hardly enough to buy a used car, let alone funding decades long retirement.
Why aren’t Americans saving more? Many just don’t have the money. But a confusing retirement landscape doesn’t help either. People aren’t clear on how much they need to save, what they should do with the money they set aside, and how long they can expect to live once they stop working. Rather than carefully planning for the future, they make decisions almost at random, sometimes relying on myths, misinformation, and outright lies. Swallowing those retirement whoppers hook, line, and sinker can cause people to make critical errors today that jeopardize their financial security down the road
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