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April
19
2023

Many Older Americans Haven’t Saved Anything for Retirement
Paulina Cachero

More than a quarter of Americans have no money saved for retirement.

A new survey finds 27% of people aged 59 and older have no money set aside for their later years.

That’s according to a new survey from personal finance site Credit Karma, which found older respondents are even less prepared by some measures than their younger counterparts. Nearly one in five people aged 59 and older said they didn’t have a retirement account and 27% of respondents said they haven’t set anything aside for their later years. That compared to a quarter of Gen X respondents.

For those aging Americans who do have retirement accounts, persistent inflation has thwarted their plans, worsening the $7 trillion retirement-savings shortfall. Among baby boomers who are employed and saving for retirement, 17% said they’ve decreased their contributions to their retirement accounts as a result of inflation. Another 5% of respondents aged 59 and older said they can’t afford to contribute to their retirement account at all.

Gen Z is more optimistic, with more than half saying they dream of gaining financial independence and retiring early, better known as the FIRE movement. However, many Americans don’t have the financial resources to make early retirement a reality.

More than 30% of respondents said their net worth is $0 or less, meaning they have more debts than assets. That’s especially true for younger generations, with 41% of Gen Z and 38% of millennials saying they have zero or negative net worth. For people aged 59 and over, that number was 21%.

Personal finance reporter [email protected]

www.bloomberg.com