You Won't Believe How Many Americans Have No Retirement Savings
Many workers neglect their nest eggs thinking they don't need retirement savings of their own. The problem? They're wrong.
If you expect to pay your bills on Social Security alone in retirement, you may be in for quite the nasty shock when you realize those benefits amount to less than $18,000 a year. That's on par with what the average recipient collects today, and even if you're not set to retire for quite some time, and will therefore collect a higher benefit as payments are adjusted for inflation, you should know that if you're an average earner, Social Security will only replace about 40% of your pre-retirement income, and that most seniors need a good 70% to 80% of their former wages to live comfortably.
Now if you're privy to a generous pension and have other income sources to tap in retirement, like a paid-off, valuable home you're planning to sell, then you may be able to relax a bit on the retirement savings front. But if you have no obvious source of income to look forward to during your golden years, then you'll need to make an effort to save as much as you possibly can, while you can.
Source Fool.com
