AARP: 1 in 5 Americans over 50 have no retirement savings
A recent survey found 57 million Americans do not have access to an employee sponsored retirement plan.
(InvestigateTV) — A recent AARP survey finds 1 in 5 Americans over 50 have no retirement savings.
David John, Senior Policy Advisor at AARP is worried about the people not prepared for retirement. He is working to get the word out so people can prepare for retirement now.
“We have about half the workforce who doesn’t have access to a retirement savings program at work,” John shared. “We have most people who are saving, don’t feel that they have enough and roughly one out of five people approaching retirement don’t have anything saved whatsoever.”
John said the AARP is hoping to turn the tide, both at state and federal levels.
Congress is currently considering two pieces of legislation to expand retirement security, the bipartisan Retirement Savings for Americas Act and the Automatic IRA Act which would provide retirement savings accounts to eligible workers without employer sponsored plans. This is something John believes will help Americans when it comes to post-work savings.
“Workers who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to save for retirement at work, could have a choice,” John noted. “If their employers decides, well, instead I’m going to open up a 401(K), that’s great. If the employer doesn’t, then the employer can put in the state auto IRA or similar method and this is low cost, doesn’t cost the employer anything, simple, easy to understand and it allows people who otherwise would just have social security, to have a much more secure retirement future.”
John said even people on very limited budgets can plan for retirement.
“So many people say, ‘well, I can’t do it!!’ he said. “And what you can do is start small!! Especially if you’re younger! You don’t need to put in a huge amount of money to start off with. Start small and then as we talked about-build up over time as you can afford it!”
John also advised people to get a handle on what they’re spending each month. For example, instead of eating out, maybe use that $30 towards saving for retirement.
He said sometimes it is easy to lose track of spending and a little planning ahead could go a long way in the golden years. He urged people to simply try and to start small.
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