Earlier this month, USA Today reported that “retirement is increasingly becoming a luxury many American workers cannot afford,” due to several factors, including rising housing and medical costs.
Recent research continues to indicate that, yes, retirement is becoming increasingly out of reach for millions of Americans who are still in the workforce.
There’s a retirement crisis in the U.S., particularly for people who are not able to participate in defined contribution plans offered by their employers, according to a new study conducted by Morningstar Retirement Services.
It found that 57% of those not participating at all in a DC plan in the future may run short of money, and that baby boomers and Gen Xers are the most likely to see shortfalls.
“This research highlights the vulnerability of certain demographics to retirement shortfalls and underscores the importance of defined-contribution plans in retirement preparedness,” said Morningstar.
Unfortunately, not everyone has access to defined contribution plans.
“The prospect of retirement security seems more precarious today than in at least a generation. While access to an employer-provided retirement savings plan has increased, access levels still fall far short of including all working people,” said a May report from the National Institute on Retirement Security. “Meanwhile, typical amounts saved for retirement are too low for many workers to maintain their preretirement standard of living.”
In fact, NIRS found that there has been a “decline in the availability of defined benefit (DB) pension plans in the private sector,” that is contributing to a sense of retirement unease in the U.S. In January, personal finance website WalletHub reported that more than three in 10 Americans felt anxious when thinking about retirement. It said debt the average household is carrying, scanty savings and the precarious future of government benefits were factors in the anxiety.
“Congress has expressed an interest in learning what the federal government can do to make it easier for private sector employers, who wish to do so, to offer pension plans,” said NIRS.
At the same time, Republican lawmakers have proposed changes to Social Security. According to USA Today, the program already “doesn’t stretch far enough and many older Americans,” don’t have enough savings.
“Far-right plans, endorsed by Project 2025’s authors, to increase the full retirement age would cut benefits for nearly three-quarters of Americans and threaten low- and moderate-income workers with economic insecurity once they leave the workforce,” said the Center for American Progress in a Wednesday article.
Per the article, the Republican Study Committee (RSC) released its fiscal year 2025 budget proposal in March that includes significant cuts to Social Security. This plan would also increase the age at which seniors become eligible to access Social Security retirement benefits without a financial penalty from 67 to 69. For reference, the average lifespan for Americans is 77.5 years, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“While raising the FRA is overwhelmingly unpopular among the American people, it has enjoyed the support of some of the most extreme far-right groups in Washington, D.C., including the Heritage Foundation, which is spearheading the authoritarian playbook known as Project 2025,” said CAP.
For those who don’t have access to retirement programs through their employer, there are some tips on how to save for retirement. NerdWallet suggests people work to get to a place where they can save at least 10% of their pre-tax income. Morningstar recommended delaying retirement until age 70, but noted that it isn’t a solution for everyone.