Older Americans, Facing Retirement, Are Broke

People near retirement age claim they can’t afford much once they stop working. A new study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute states:

Many workers report they have virtually no savings and investments. In total, 60 percent of workers report that the total value of their household’s savings and investments, excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans, is less than $25,000.

The report adds:

Americans’ confidence in their ability to retire comfortably is stagnant at historically low levels. Just 14 percent are very confident they will have enough money to live comfortably in retirement (statistically equivalent to the low of 13 percent measured in 2011 and 2009).

The problem is likely even worse because many of these people have homes that have little or negative equity. During many generations in the past, people about to retire could sell their homes to fund their living costs later in life.