The AARP and the Ad Council launched a campaign called “This is Pretirement” to help encourage people to seriously think about their retirement plans.

“The idea of creating a new campaign to give people small, actionable steps, to really get their retirement savings on track but remove that shame and fear, which is all over us when it really comes to retirement savings,” Mary Liz Burns with the AARP said.

“You know, we did a financial trends survey, we’ve been doing it since the pandemic,” she continued. “One in five adults, our latest survey of people 30 and 30+, have no retirement savings,” Burns reported. “Those who do have retirement savings, two-thirds of them think I’m going to outlive them, they’re not going to be around for me. And so folks think what am I going to do as it relates to this.”

The AARP found that while 86% of working adults know the importance of preparing for retirement, only about 40% actually feel they’re prepared to retire.

Burns urged those in their 20s, 30s, and 40s to start putting aside money for retirement, even if it is just $25 per paycheck.

For people ages 50 and older, the AARP found there’s a significant gap between what they have saved and what they expect to need in retirement.

“If you’re somebody that’s in their 40s and 50s, you’ve got maybe 20 years to retirement or at least until your next phase of working in part-time or something else,” Burns noted. “Do as much as you can to save tax-free or in other accounts in other accounts on your retirement savings and just really watch those retirement savings grow.”

And for those living paycheck to paycheck, she said don’t get discouraged. Instead, look closely at your budget to find ways to cut back on little expenses, then use that to start a retirement fund.

“Just take your bank statements or any kind of information you have. See what’s coming in, see what’s going out. Maybe there’s a couple of things here you weren’t even aware of that’s happening with your money,” Burns suggested. “Any of those savings, it could be $5 or $10 a month anything, putting that aside and saying that’s for either short-term savings and/or emergency and long-term savings. Really key.”

Not having a clear financial plan can be worrisome, so preparing now could help people get closer to reaching retirement goals.

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