42 Percent Of Americans At Risk Of Retiring Broke, Survey Finds
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CBS Local -- An annual survey of how well Americans are preparing for retirement has found that a large number of people are at risk of leaving the workforce with barely anything saved up.
According to personal finance website GoBankingRates.com, 42 percent of Americans polled said they have less than $10,000 saved for their eventual retirement. The 2018 poll of 1,000 people, ranging from millennials to baby boomers, found that nearly 14 percent of Americans have absolutely nothing saved for the future. Over 28 percent of the respondents claimed that they have under $10,000 put away for retirement.
The future for millennials was particularly bleak, with nearly 60 percent of young Americans saying they have almost nothing set aside for their old age. The most common reasons people gave for the lack of savings included, "I don't make enough money to save" and "I'm struggling to pay bills."
While this year's survey isn't the greatest news for American workers, the results are actually a big improvement from GoBankingRates' 2017 survey. The financial advisers found 55 percent of people had under $10,000 saved last year. The number of Americans saying they had nothing for retirement was 20 percent higher (34 percent) one year ago.
"The amount of people who don't even know an individual retirement plan is available is astounding," Tom Zgainer, CEO of America's Best 401k said. Zgainer added that many workers don't know about their 401k options at work and are not making the most of their company's retirement plans.
On a positive note, this year's survey found that more Americans have been able to save over $300,000 for their senior years. Sixteen percent of the country reached the poll's highest savings threshold, compared to 14 percent in 2017.