Data and Research April 27, 2018

One-Quarter of Employees Do Not Know How Much They Need to Save for Retirement

In addition, a CareerBuilder survey found roughly one in four workers ages 55 and older (23%) said they do not participate in a 401(k), IRA or other retirement plan.

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More than half (53%) of workers ages 60 and older say they are postponing retirement, with 57% of men putting retirement on hold compared to 48% of women, according to a CareerBuilder survey.

Four in 10 workers don’t think they’ll be able to retire until age 70 or older.

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Approximately one-quarter (24%) do not know how much they will need to save for retirement. Women are much more likely to be unsure of how much to save than men—31% vs. 17%, respectively.

When asked how much money they think they’ll need to save in order to retire, workers said:

  • Less than $500,000: 20%;
  • $500,000 to less than $1 million: 31%;
  • $1 million to less than $2 million: 14%;
  • $2 million to less than $3 million: 5%; and
  • $3 million or more: 7%.

When asked if they are currently contributing to retirement accounts, roughly one in four workers ages 55 and older (23%) said they do not participate in a 401(k), IRA or other retirement plan. Among younger adults ages 18 to 34, 40% said they do not participate in a 401(k), IRA or other retirement plan.

The survey was conducted online within the U.S. by The Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder among 809 employees ages 18 and older (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between November 28 and December 20, 2017.

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