A high percentage of Americans–even in upper-income categories–are likely to run short of money after 10 or 20 years of retirement.
A study by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) finds 64% of Americans in the two lowest income levels will run short after 10 years in retirement. The EBRI study also finds that after 20 years of retirement, almost a third (29%) of those in the next-to-highest income level will run short of money, as will 13% of those in the high-income levels.
Not surprisingly, those with the highest income are at the lowest risk of running short of money–but many in the highest income category still face significant risks of not being able to pay basic expenses and uninsured medical expenses for the remainder of their lives.
“As the private-sector retirement plan system evolves from a largely paternalistic one to a system in which workers must make their own decisions, policymakers need to understand what percentage of the population is likely to fail to achieve retirement security under current conditions,” said Jack VanDerhei, principal author of the study, in a statement.