28% of Americans in Their 60s Are Extremely Short on Retirement Savings
Though there’s no magic savings number that guarantees financial security during retirement, as a good rule of thumb, it’s smart to close out your career with about 10 times your ending salary socked away. The reason? Social Security will only replace about 40% of the income you’re used to if you’re an average earner. If you’re a higher earner, it will replace even less. Meanwhile, most seniors need considerably more than 40% of their former paycheck to stay afloat financially, especially when we factor in healthcare expenses, which are likely to climb in retirement.
By retiring with 10 times your ending income saved, you’ll have a solid means of supplementing your Social Security benefits to live a comfortable lifestyle. But new data from TD Ameritrade reveals that a large number of older Americans are nowhere close to hitting that target. In fact, 28% of U.S. adults in their 60s have less than $50,000 set aside for their golden years. And another 13% only have between $50,000 and $99,000, which also isn’t a lot. If you’re in your 60s without much retirement savings, you may be inclined to give up on salvaging your senior years.
But actually, there’s no need to resign yourself to a cash-strapped existence, because a few smart moves on your part in the coming decade could help your financial picture improve.
1. Get a second job immediately
Being in your 60s with little savings means you’re really in a crunch. Now you could start cutting back drastically on spending to free up more money for your IRA or 401(k) while you’re still working, but at this stage of life, you may be hesitant to make substantial changes.
A better bet, therefore, could be to get yourself a side job on top of your main one. This is helpful for a couple of reasons. First, with an extra stream of income at your disposal, you’ll have a means of ramping up your retirement plan contributions. Secondly, you’ll line up a job to carry with you into retirement — because the reality is that unless you have a nice pension to look forward to, which many seniors don’t, you’ll need a way to earn money in retirement if your IRA or 401(k) balance is less than $50,000 right now.
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