Comments on: Catching up on Your Retirement Planning

By: Carolyn

Carolyn — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 02:51:08 +0000

Suddenly I don’t feel so inadequate! This is really sad. My 56 yr. old mother would fall into this category. I don’t think she has a penny saved, and she doesn’t have any job skills either (I don’t get it, a SAHM at 56!?!!!). I wonder how much divorce plays into this statistic? I know quite a few 50 somethings that have divorced recently, totally demolishing 20+ years of married savings and having to split an already measly retirement account.

By: BrookMan

BrookMan — Thu, 19 Jan 2006 01:49:36 +0000

The numbers don’t lie – people just aren’t prepared. And even those with money and kids are more likely to put the needs of their kids/saving for college first. One can take out a loan for college, but no one will loan you money for your retirement…

By: Jeff Running

Jeff Running — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 23:15:50 +0000

Below is a quote from the article. I’m assuming this takes into account rollovers. Thought it still seems very low for the age range.

“Even the average saved — which is overweighted by people who’ve saved a lot — is just $115,260 for that age group.”

By: Foobarista

Foobarista — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 20:11:50 +0000

One question: like most people who work in startups, I’ve never worked in any one company for more than a few years, and my 401K is currently about this amount. But my rollover IRA has about $100K in it, so my money available from 401Ks over my lifetime is more like $160K. Does this study include rollover IRAs, or does it assume that you have only had a single 401K that you roll over from one company to another (always a rather dumb idea given the crappy choices available in most 401K plans).

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Wed, 18 Jan 2006 19:21:56 +0000

Wow. That is sort of staggering, but I suppose many of those folks thought pensions might take care of them in retirement? (looking for a reason to not be totally freaked out by that statistic…)