American Worker Retirement

 In 2022, the average american had between $5,000 to $6,000 in their savings accounts.  SOURCE:  www.cnbc.com

The suggested savings guidelines say you need about ten times your annual salary in savings as you reach your full retirement age. The median salary of a 65-year-old is $54,000 per year — which means you'd need approximately $540,000 saved if you want to retire at 65.    SOURCE: Western & Southern Financial Group

It would appear that most Americans have a long way to go in order to save the money they need for retirement.  Of course, once you are 67 years old, you can receive full SOCIAL SECURITY benefits which average about $1,200 to $1,500 each month.  And, if you work for a company that has 401Ks, then you already have a savings program in place.

If you work for state government, then there is a good possibility that they will still have retirement programs in place which might revolve around $2,000/month after 20/25 years.

The Social Security Trust Fund is running out of money as more and more Americans retire.  There is a good possibiity that in order to keep it solvent, the amount of monthy dispursements might reduce from 100% to 80% AND the age to draw full benefits might increase from 67 to 70.

Regardless of what our Federal Government decides to do or not to do, Americans should have their OWN PLAN for retirement.  This plan SHOULD INCLUDE paying off ALL DEBT before one retires...  in other words, it is not a good idea to retire with debt...  but then again, that is your decision to make.

FIFTEEN YEARS before my wife and I retired, we became DEBT FREE and began saving as much money as we could each year.  We also created an outside environment that would substitute for being at a beach resort.  We put in an above ground pool, built a deck around the pool, added a gazebo along with a 6 person hot tub.  While it is not a beach resort, it was our substitute an afforded us another chance to save money.

Our East TN location gives us another opportunity to live in a low cost of living environment.  It is possible to have monthly expenses of $3,500.  While our expenses are a little higher, Social Security pays for 75% of that.  We are lucky but you might not be that lucky...  this is exactly why you need to have a plan.  The earlier you start the better off you will be.