Here’s how much the typical American baby boomer has saved for retirement — how do you stack up?
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The roughly 71.6 million men and women of the postwar baby-boom generation started hitting retirement age about a decade ago. But it’ll be another dozen years before the whole generation has reached its full retirement age.
So how exactly is retirement shaping up for the generation that went from Woodstock and Watergate to iPhones and Instagram?
According to the latest available numbers via the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances, the average retirement savings balance was $333,940. That might sound like a respectable amount of cash, but that produces just $13,357 a year, or $1,113 a month.
And in the same year, however, the median retirement balance among households was actually only $87,000.
In many cases, that money gets nibbled away by income tax, too. With that in mind, here are three strategies to bolster your retirement savings.
According to the Federal Reserve, only 36% of non-retirees thought their retirement savings were on track as of 2021. If you feel you could use some help getting your finances back on track, consider reaching out to a financial advisor.
Prudence in financial matters comes more easily when you have great advisors in your corner. If you want advice on how much cash you should hold in your portfolio, and how to invest for safety in this market, consider finding a financial advisor through Advisor.com.
This online platform connects you with vetted financial advisors best suited to help you develop a plan for your new wealth.
Just answer a few quick questions about yourself and your finances and the platform will match you with an experienced financial professional. You can view their profile, read past client reviews, and schedule an initial consultation for free with no obligation to hire.
You can view advisor profiles, read past client reviews, and schedule an initial consultation for free with no obligation to hire.
Not only are retirement savings important for you, they affect your loved ones too. When you opt out of life insurance, you are leaving your family on the hook for things like medical and end-of-life expenses.
If you’re concerned that Medicare might not cover your expenses, there are other insurance options you can consider.
Long-term care insurance offers coverage for the costs of in-home assistance, nursing homes or assisted living facilities.
Without proper planning, paying for long-term care could deplete your retirement fund. In many cases, the burden of paying for care often falls on family members – potentially straining their finances.
When considering long-term care insurance, GoldenCare offers different options based on your needs, including hybrid life or annuity with long-term care benefits, short-term care, extended care, home health care, assisted living, and traditional long-term care insurance.
Read more: 30% of US drivers switched car insurance in the last five years. Here’s how much they saved — and how you can cut your own bills ASAP
Working longer not only delays taking money out of your retirement investments, which allows them to continue compounding earnings growth, but it also pushes back the age at which you’ll need to start collecting Social Security payments.
Take that $333,940 investment portfolio. Invested in a conservative portfolio returning 5% annually — the historical average return on stocks is 11.9% — that money would grow to $384,031 in three years. Assuming you’re following the 4% rule for withdrawals, that would amount to $15,361 per year — an increase of $2,004 each year.
However, it isn’t always easy to find spare change in your budget to invest with — until now.
With Acorns, you can turn spending into savings, thanks to their automated investment platform.
All you have to do is link your bank account and spend as you normally would. Acorns will round up your everyday purchases to the nearest dollar, and then invest that spare change in a diversified portfolio built by experts, and are managed by top investing firms.
Plus, Acorns lets you customize how you save. With an Acorns Silver plan, you get access to Acorns Later, a retirement investment account with a 1% IRA match on new contributions.
With Acorns Gold, you get a 3% IRA match on new contributions and the ability to customize your portfolio by selecting your own stocks.
Signing up for Acorns takes less than five minutes, and if you sign up now, you can get a $20 bonus investment.
Finally, consider diversifying your retirement savings outside of the stock market. As a baby boomer, you’ve seen your share of swings in share prices — but you’ve also seen massive growth in commodities like gold. Did you know you can tie your retirement savings to this more stable investment with a gold IRA?
Priority Gold is an industry leader in precious metals, offering physical delivery of gold and silver. Plus, they have an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and a 5-star rating from Trust Link.
If you’d like to convert an existing IRA into a gold IRA, Priority Gold offers 100% free rollover, as well as free shipping, and free storage for up to five years. Qualifying purchases will also receive up to $10,000 in free silver.
To learn more about how Priority Gold can help you reduce inflation’s impact on your nest egg, download their free 2025 gold investor bundle.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
