Maybe your plans for retirement include dining in fine restaurants, traveling to the Galapagos Islands to see blue-footed boobies, taking your grandchildren to Hershey, Pa., to eat chocolate to their hearts' content -- and then coming home to your spiffy retirement community.
But judging from startling statistics, you're in danger of a retirement that's quite the opposite. Picturegnawing onSalisbury-steak microwave dinners, taking a bus down to the Git 'n' Go for a bag of chips, and bringing your grandchildren to the Salvation Army so you can shop for "new" clothes -- all while living in a relative's moldy basement.
Time for some tough love, Fools.
The facts
According to the 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS), many Americans will have gruesome retirements. In a separate survey, 31% of us said we'd rather scrub a bathroom than plan for retirement.
Rest assured: If you've been putting off planning for your retirement, you're not alone. (I can't speak for the scrubbing thing.)
Check out these numbers from the RCS, reflecting the total savings and investments (not including the value of the primary residence) of today's workers, by age group:
Retirement Savings
All Ages
25-34
35-44
45-54
55+
Less than $10,000
36%
49%
33%
29%
28%
$10,000-$24,999
13%
18%
13%
11%
8%
$25,000-$49,999
12%
14%
12%
13%
7%
$50,000-$99,999
12%
13%
12%
10%
16%
$100,000-$249,999
15%
4%
21%
18%
18%
$250,000 or more Continued... |