Far from relief, retirement looks like a grim prospect for some
Some have a 401(k) plan, but raid it preretirement for other needs. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/GaryPhoto
Are American workers ever going to be able to save enough to retire?
The outlook is grim.
According to a report published this month by the National Institute on Retirement Security, employees across the country have saved a median amount of $955 toward their retirement.
No, that’s not a typo.
$955.
That stunning statistic includes workers ages 21 to 64, with 401(k) plans, those with other retirement savings, and those who have nothing saved.
Among those with at least some savings in a defined contribution plan, that number was just a bit better — at $40,000, and that may be due in part to a change in law that made contributing the default. But that’s still far below where it needs to be.
That bad news is compounded further by the notion that Americans are living longer and facing increasing health care costs, and will likely need even more in the bank so they don’t outlast their retirement savings.
That’s just the start of an increasingly worrisome scenario — one where younger generations are wildly unprepared to save what’s needed, where older Americans simply don’t have enough, and where essential backstops like Social Security won’t be able to close the gap.
How much do we need? That’s a question without a magic answer. Fidelity claims that to retire comfortably, a worker needs to save 10 times their income by the time they’re 67. Northwestern Mutual’s annual planning & progress study put the “magic number” at $1.26 million and a study by GoBankingRates that analyzed retirement savings by state similarly put New York’s number at $1.2 million, a figure that’s the fourth-highest nationwide.
If those amounts seem out of reach to you, you’re not alone. Surveys have shown that significant swaths of the workforce don’t think they are saving enough for their later years — or see a comfortable retirement as the brass ring they’ll never reach. Some don’t have retirement plans via their employer at all, others can’t put money into such plans because they earn enough only for basic expenses like housing or food, and paying off student loans. Then there are those who have a 401(k), but raid it preretirement for other needs.
Perhaps of even greater concern: Those who are already retired are having trouble, too. According to the AARP, 7% of retirees reentered the labor force in the last half of 2025, up from 6% who said in a summertime survey that they had gone back to work in the first half of the year. By far, those who “unretired” cited the need for supplemental income as the most significant reason.
Too many seniors are in even deeper financial trouble. According to American Community Survey data, the number of Long Island seniors — those 65 and older — living in poverty is on the rise. In comparing the 2015-19 period with the 2020-24 time frame, Nassau County’s senior poverty rate increased from 5.2% to 6.7%, while Suffolk’s rose from 5.8% to 7.3%. Long Island Cares, one of the region’s largest food banks, said last year that nearly 4,000 seniors each month require assistance.
We talk all the time about Long Island’s high cost of living, or the impact of student loan and credit card debt, or the need for a better mix of housing types. Affordability is an oft-used buzzword, but it often revolves around the challenges of the moment rather than of the future.
We need to talk more about what comes next. Even if there is no magic answer.
Columnist Randi F. Marshall’s opinions are her own.
Randi Marshall is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
