A little savings today will set you apart from others in retirement

05-29-2015Retirement

Yesterday, the Federal Reserve's 2014 Survey of Household Economics and Decision Making found many Americans are not financially prepared for retirement.

• 38% percent have either no intention to retire or plan to keep working for as long as possible.
• 31% of non-retirees have no retirement savings or pension, including nearly a quarter of those older than 45
• 55% of those making less than $40,000 per year plan to keep working as long as possible or never plan to retire
• 53% could cover a hypothetical emergency expense costing $400 without selling something or borrowing money.
• 31% went without some form of medical care in the past year because they could not afford it

In the good news department, 65% of respondents viewed their families to be either "doing okay" or "living comfortably" financially.

If you are a 35 year old that can save $150 per month for retirement into a solid growth mutual fund, you could accumulate over $222,000 by age 65 with an average return of 8%. If you return averages 10%, then you would have over $327,000. A 12% average return could accumulate over $488,000.