In a recent survey, only 39% of active workers have more than $50,000 saved for retirement. Among retirees, 51% have less than $10,000 saved (Source: 2008 Retirement Confidence Survey).
Approximately 79% of Americans said their savings effort was inadequate, citing large regular expenses (72%), unexpected expenses (72%), low or unreliable income (66%), and large consumer debts (60%) as reasons for not saving enough (Source: Consumer Federation of America, 2007).
Only 24% of workers who develop disabilities between the ages of 51 and 62 receive Social Security disability benefits (Source: Center for Retirement Research, December 2007).
On average, 55% of defined-contribution plan assets are allocated to stocks. However, nearly 20% of participants have no equities in their retirement portfolios, while 25% maintain all stock portfolios (Source: Watson Wyatt Worldwide, 2008).
In 2004, 32% of individuals between the ages of 65 and 74 had a mortgage on their primary residence, up from 19% in 1992 (Source: Federal Reserve, 2008).