CNBC is milking the Economic Policy Institute report from March 2016 to report “news” over a year later. This time it’s average and median retirement savings for people in their 50s.
Age | Average | Median |
50-55 | $124,831 | $8,000 |
56-61 | $163,577 | $17,000 |
Note how low those medians are. I used the age 32-37 median (< $500!) on the back cover of Basic Personal Finance. These numbers show that over half the population is not prepared to support themselves in retirement. Don’t let that happen to you. The key is to plan ahead and establish financial discipline early in your life to save for the future. That’s rule #1 in Basic Personal Finance: Pay yourself first!
The original report is here. The table below is their summary chart that was featured in the CNBC story.