Americans Raise Retirement Target to $1.46 Million as Inflation and Longevity Fears Grow
Updated
Updated · WRAL News · Jul 8
Americans Raise Retirement Target to $1.46 Million as Inflation and Longevity Fears Grow
3 articles · Updated · WRAL News · Jul 8
Summary
$1.46 million is the amount Americans now say they need for a comfortable retirement, up $200,000 from a year earlier in Northwestern Mutual's survey of more than 4,300 adults.
Persistent inflation, longer life expectancies and uncertainty over Social Security are driving the jump, with nearly half of respondents saying they do not expect to be financially prepared and fear outliving their savings.
Generation X appears especially exposed: more than 1 in 4 people in the cohort closest to retirement said they have no retirement savings at all.
The new target also far exceeds current benchmarks and balances—federal data showed households aged 65 to 74 had about $200,000 saved in 2022, while Fidelity's rule of thumb implies roughly $830,000 based on median household income.