12 Merry Retirement Statistics: 2022

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Those who follow the financial services trade media are likely used to hearing the phrase “retirement crisis” thrown around with some abandon.

The standard notion is that the widespread demise of defined benefit pension plans is leaving Americans with significantly less financial security once they leave the workforce. This fear is often cited in conjunction with scary-sounding statistics about the instability of the Social Security system and ever-increasing life expectancies to underscore the sense that a crisis of grand proportions is already upon us.

As is often the case, a closer look at the data shows a much more complex picture. For starters, working Americans have never before had so much saved for retirement, with some $7.7 trillion invested in 401(k) plans alone. Add this to the still-sizable legacy pension system and the support delivered by Social Security and the result is that older Americans today enjoy greater incomes and a lower risk of poverty during life after work relative to any prior generation.

This doesn’t mean the U.S. retirement system doesn’t face challenges, of course, but it does make those challenges appear at least a little less daunting. What is clear is that a good understanding of where the retirement system truly stands today is essential for its ongoing success and potential improvements in the future.

In that spirit, ThinkAdvisor presents the following slideshow of merry retirement statistics. The data points show just how committed Americans are to preparing for retirement, despite the challenges presented by rocky markets and rising inflation.