Fewer than half of working-age Americans have any retirement savings, according to Census data for 2020, The Hill reported. Savings rates rise with age, but only to a point. In the 55- to –64-year-old boomer age group, 58 percent of Americans own retirement accounts. A newly minted retiree of 65 can now expect to live 20 more years, on average, according to Social Security projections. Without a retirement account, most retirees count on Social Security. The average monthly Social Security check to a retired worker is around $1,800. The average household run by an over-65 American spends more than $4,000 a month. Yet, “many people go into retirement thinking that Social Security is going to provide for them,” said Josh Hodges, chief customer officer for the National Council on Aging. The average retirement account held just over $100,000 at the close of 2022, according to a Fidelity analysis. The median baby-boom household isn’t doing much better, with $134,000 in retirement savings in 2019, the most recent federal data. That’s about one-third of the average retirement savings in that age group, $408,420, a figure inflated by the super-rich. And most retirement nest eggs are much smaller now than a year ago. By Fidelity’s estimate, the average retirement account lost one-fifth of its value in 2022, dwindling from $135,600 to $104,000. Among retirees, the average savings account dwindled from $192,000 to $171,000 in 2022, according to a survey by Clever Real Estate. The share of retirees without any savings jumped from 30 percent to 37 percent.
