The following information was provided by the Boston College Center For Retirement Research.

The brief’s key findings are:

• The Federal Reserve’s 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances offers an opportunity to examine households’ holdings in 401(k)s and IRAs.
• For working households nearing retirement with a 401(k), median combined 401(k)/IRA balances rose from $111,000 in 2013 to $135,000 in 2016.
• While growing balances are encouraging, $135,000 provides only $600 per month in retirement, so current saving levels are still falling short.
• Moreover, about half of households nearing retirement have no 401(k) assets at all, so lack of access to a plan remains an enormous problem.
• 

The key finding for us is the lack of retirement assets for nearly half of those nearing retirement. We find it incredibly disturbing that we have such a significant percentage of our workers headed for government assistance upon retirement. But, is it really surprising?

We have had little wage growth for a majority of U.S. workers for the past two decades, while demanding a greater share of their take-home pay for housing, healthcare, education, etc. There is very little left to allocate to a retirement, especially one that now has to be managed by untrained individuals.

Even a modest DB payout of $1,250/month ($15,000/year) stretched over a 20-year retirement would provide the retiree with a $300,000 payout. That is more than twice what the median 55-64-year-old has at this time in a 401(k)/IRA.

We have people in our industry trying to dismiss the notion that we have a retirement crisis unfoldin. Who are they kidding!