U.S. retirement income deficit: $6.6 trillion

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By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch


SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The gap between what Americans need for retirement and the amount they have saved is a staggering $6.6 trillion, Retirement USA, a coalition of workers’ groups, said in a study published Wednesday.

“The retirement income deficit is the gap between the pensions and retirement savings that American households have today and what they should have today to be on track to maintain their living standard in retirement,” said Karen Friedman, executive vice president and policy director of the Pension Rights Center, in a conference call with reporters.

“The retirement income deficit shows just how bad the crisis has become,” she said. The Pension Rights Center, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group, is working with the AFL-CIO, Economic Policy Institute, Service Employees International Union and National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare to promote, among other things, a new retirement security system for all workers. See their 12 principles for a retirement system.

Only about half of full-time workers in the private sector have access to a retirement plan at work, and that drops to 44% when you include part-time workers, Friedman said.

Meanwhile, most of those who have a retirement plan are relying on their own investing expertise to fund their retirement, and the market crash of 2008-09 took a heavy toll on savings that, for many, were paltry already. The median defined-contribution account balance, including IRAs, in 2007 -- before the downturn -- for public- and private-sector workers was just $45,000, according to Retirement USA. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-retirement-income-deficit-66-trillion-2010-09-15