Yahoo Finance Retirement plan: Work until you drop
Have you put off saving for retirement? You’re not alone. Only 1 out of every 2 Americans ages 35-44 are putting money away for their golden years.
And that’s not the worst of it. 3 out of 10 Americans aren’t saving anything at all. Although you might think many of those people don’t have enough money to save, Scott Thoma of Edward Jones has done extensive research and he says that’s not the case. “We see a fair number of people say they plan to save, as many as 90%, it’s just in some cases, they never do it. ”
Scary Stats
Standard retirement age is somewhere between 65 and 70, yet according to the Edward Jones research, by age 60 the numbers don’t improve. Within a few years of retirement age, 30% of the population still hasn’t put away a dime.
Get the Latest Market Data and News with the Yahoo Finance Ap
The tipping point appears to be ages 35-44. “We found that if people don’t start saving for retirement by this age, often times, they don’t ever start.”
“Part of the issue is that when you’re young you think retirement is such a long way off and you have other financial needs,” Thoma explained, “such as paying down student debt.”
However, because compound interest is so powerful, putting only a little money into a stock fund will make a big difference over time. “Debt is an issue but do a little something just to get that savings going.” Otherwise the alternative is working until you drop and nobody wants that.
“Start today,” Thoma said, “You can get there.”
More from Yahoo Finance
‘Off the grid’ measures reveal volumes about economy
