How much Americans have in savings

by Dr. Eowyn

A financially-secure retirement has three nest eggs:

1. Pension, which is rapidly vanishing for many working Americans.
2. Social Security: Although Social Security was never intended to be a retiree’s sole source of income, 35% of Americans over the age of 65 rely almost entirely on Social Security payments. (Accounting Degree Review)
3. Savings: Experts say you should have 5 times your annual salary saved by age 50, 6 times by age 55, and 7 times by age 60.

Again and again, we’ve been told that the average American has too little in savings. According to a 2016 GOBankingRates survey, 35% of all U.S. adults had only several hundred dollars in their savings accounts; 34% had zero savings.

More recently, the news is no better.

Kathleen Elkins reports for CNBC, Oct. 8, 2018, that the median American household has just $11,700 in total savings. That means half of U.S. households have less than $11,700 in savings; 29% of households have less than $1,000.

Personal finance site MagnifyMoney used data from the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) to break down how much American households at every income level have saved:

1. Top 1% in income:
   • Average savings $2.5 million
   • Median savings $1.13 million.
     
2. Top 10% in income:
   • Average savings: $961,570
   • Median savings: $156,510
3. 60 to 79.9% in income:
   • Average savings: $133,770
   • Median savings: $77,020
4. 40 to 59.9% in income:
   • Average savings: $65,830
   • Median savings: $34,020
5. 20 to 39.9% in income:
   • Average savings: $29,080
   • Median savings: $0
6. Bottom 20% in income:
   • Average savings: $8,720
   • Median savings: $0

What a median savings of $0 means is that half of Americans whose incomes are in the bottom 39.9% not only have no savings, they are in debt.

How much have you saved, compared to the average savings of your income group?

~Eowyn