According to the Planning and Progress Studyconducted recently by Northwestern Mutual, 69% of Americans believe there is a chance they could outlive their savings. About a third of all respondents believed there was a better than 50-50 chance they wouldn't have enough money to last throughout retirement.
Also, a number of Americans are reliant on Social Security to provide at least half of their monthly income, or expect to be reliant on Social Security once they retire. Though Social Security has been around for more than 80 years, it's nearing an inflection point where the program will begin paying out more money than it's brining in via payroll taxes and interest. By 2034, a benefit cut of up to 21% could be necessary to sustain the program for another 75 years, which could be crippling to Americans with little saved for retirement.
Two issues standing in the way of a comfortable retirement
At the heart of Americans' retirement woes are two issues.
First, Americans simply aren't saving enough of their earned income to support themselves during their golden years. According to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve, the personal savings rate in June 2016 was just 5.3%. This is a vast improvement from the 3.4% personal savings rate a decade prior — but it's substantially lower than what citizens in other developed countries are socking away with each paycheck.
