Most Americans associate sixty-five with the age for retirement. But times have changed and this goalpost most workers have worked toward has suffered slight adjustments in the past years, with 25 percent of adults aspiring to retire at the age of 65 and almost 40 percent expecting to retire after this age.
Even if many Americans look forward to leaving their 9 to 5 job, 8 in 10 are concerned they won’t be able to do retire when planned and live a comfortable retirement. If you’re among them, here’s what might make it harder for you to retire at 65.
You don’t have enough savings
Contributing to an IRA or 401(k) is a good way to save for retirement. Unfortunately, it is not always enough. You may have struggled to put money into your 401(k) but haven’t done enough to exceed your employer’s match.
“People want to extend their working lives and plan to keep working in retirement,” said Catherine Collinson, CEO and president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. The main reason is that they didn’t manage to build a comfortable nest egg to retire comfortably.
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You don’t have any savings
The only thing worse than not saving enough for retirement is not having saved at all. But if it’s any consolation, you’re not alone in this boat. According to a recent survey, one-third of Americans have not saved anything for their golden years while 55 percent managed to put aside less than $10,000.
“Over the past few decades, there has been a shift from defined benefit to defined contribution pension plans. In the defined benefit world, one didn’t need to be concerned with saving for retirement,” says Robert Johnson of Heider College of Business at Creighton University. The baby boomers expected to retire in the future have not witnessed their parents struggling to put money aside for retirement, therefore, they didn’t feel the pressure of saving either.
If you’re in this situation, don’t postpone saving any longer! Review your budget and try to cut certain expenses so that you can put some money aside every week or month. If you get a raise or earn some extra cash, transfer it to your retirement fund as well. Pretty soon, you’ll have your very own nest egg to fall back on in retirement.
