43% Have Less than $10k for Retirement Posted by AVCU on 10:08 AM

The percentage of American workers with virtually no retirement savings grew for the third straight year, according to a survey released Tuesday. The percent of workers saying they have less than $10,000 in savings grew to 43% in 2010, from 39% in 2009, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute's (EBRI) annual Retirement Confidence Survey. That excludes the value of primary homes and defined-benefit pension plans. Workers who said they had less than $1,000 jumped to 27%, from 20% in 2009. Confidence in ability to save enough for a comfortable retirement hovered at 16% of respondents, the second lowest point in the 20-year history of the survey. The percent of workers who said they have saved for retirement fell to 69%, from 75% in 2009.

The gap between what Americans have saved and what they need for retirement is forcing workers to prolong their working years. According to the survey, 24% of workers said they have postponed their planned retirement age in the past year, up from 14% in 2008. But even as fears over health care costs and job prospects mount, the survey found that only 46% of workers have tried to calculate what they need for a comfortable standard of living in their golden years.

In general, financial planners say that retirement savings, including Social Security benefits and pension, should be large enough to provide about 80 percent of pre-retirement income. To reach that target, most Americans need to be saving within the healthy range of 6 - 10 percent of their salary. But the survey found that 54% of the workers with some form of savings said that they have less than $25,000 stowed away. Delaying retirement, though not ideal, is a good sign that people are finally facing reality.

(Source: "Forty-Three Percent Have Less than $10,000 for Retirement," CNNMoney.com, Chavon Sutton, staff reporter, March 9, 2010)