The story at a glance
- A new survey finds that 24% of Americans age 55 expect to need financial support from family members after retirement, and 21% expect to need housing assistance.
- Two-thirds of respondents in that age group said they were worried about running out of savings.
- The survey found that the median retirement savings for people age 55 is less than $50,000, falling short of the recommended goal for their age.
(News Nation) — Nearly a quarter of Americans over the age of 55 will be “silver squatters” and will need financial support from their families after retirement. According to a new study.
“Silver squatters” means parents move into their adult children’s basements and become dependent on family members for housing and financial support.
Nearly half of affected 55-year-olds have not yet shared the news with their families, according to Prudential’s 2024 U.S. Retirement Trends Study.
“As a record number of Americans reach the traditional retirement age of 65 in 2024, younger generations who are woefully underprepared for retirement will begin a 10-year countdown to secure their retirement,” the American Retirement Survey said.
About 21% of 55-year-olds surveyed said they expected to need housing assistance, compared with 12% of 65-year-olds and 9% of 75-year-olds. The survey was conducted by the Brunswick Group from April 26 to May 2, 2024, among 905 people aged 55 from across the country.
The study found that 55-year-olds are “seriously undersaving,” with a median of less than $50,000 saved for retirement, falling short of the recommended goal of saving eight times your annual salary by that age.
Two-thirds of people surveyed said they were worried about running out of savings, compared with 59% of 65-year-olds and 52% of 75-year-olds.
Americans age 55 “are far more financially precarious than previous generations and face mental and emotional stress beyond common ideas about a midlife crisis,” the study states. “These challenges are exacerbated by projections that the Social Security trust fund will be depleted when this generation reaches retirement age in 2035. This generation will be the first modern generation to reach retirement without the full support of Social Security and, in most cases, without a defined benefit pension plan.”
