Retirement by the Numbers: Savings and Readiness Stats

The "average" American has $333,940 saved for retirement. Sounds almost respectable, right? Here's the problem: the median is $87,000 [1]. The average is pulled up by millionaires the same way the "average" person at a bar with Jeff Bezos is a billionaire. The median tells you what the typical American actually has.

And $87,000 doesn't last very long.

This article gathers the most important retirement statistics in one place. Not to scare you (though some of these numbers will). To give you a clear, data-backed picture of where Americans actually stand, what retirement actually costs, and where the biggest gaps are. Every number is cited. Every source is verifiable.

The short version: The median American household approaching retirement (ages 55–64) has $185,000 saved. Healthcare alone costs $172,500 per person after 65. The average Social Security benefit is $2,071/month. Nearly half of all families don't have a retirement account at all. The gap between what people have and what they need is enormous, but knowing the gap is the first step to closing it.

Savings: What Americans Actually Have

These figures come from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), the gold standard for household financial data [1]:

Notice how the average is two to three times the median in every age group. This tells you that a small number of wealthy savers dramatically inflate the average. The median is the more honest number for understanding typical Americans.

Also notice the drop after age 75. That's spending in action. Retirees draw down their portfolios, and by 75+, the median has already fallen from its peak.

28% of Americans have absolutely zero retirement savings [2]. Not "not enough." Zero. About 54% of U.S. families hold any retirement account at all, meaning roughly half of American families are approaching retirement with nothing but Social Security [1].

Let that sink in for a moment. Half the country is planning to fund 20+ years of not working with a monthly check that averages $2,071.

And 58% of workers say they feel "behind" on retirement savings [3]. Based on the data, their instinct is correct.

Social Security: The Safety Net's Real Numbers

Social Security was never designed to be a sole retirement income. It was designed to supplement pensions and personal savings. But for roughly 40% of retirees, it provides the majority of their income [4].

$2,071 per month. That's $24,852 per year. The federal poverty level for a single person in 2026 is approximately $16,500. Social Security keeps the average retiree above poverty, but not by much.

For a couple, $3,208/month ($38,496/year) provides more breathing room. But if you're single, Social Security alone leaves little margin for unexpected expenses: car repairs, home maintenance, or the healthcare costs we're about to discuss.

Healthcare: The Number That Changes Everything

Fidelity updates their retiree healthcare cost estimate every year. In 2025, they calculated that a single 65-year-old needs $172,500 to cover healthcare expenses in retirement [8]. For a couple: $345,000.

That's after Medicare starts. It covers Medicare premiums, supplemental insurance, copays, prescription drugs, and out-of-pocket expenses. It does not include long-term care (nursing homes, assisted living), which can cost $90,000+ per year.

Let's put this in context with the savings data:

The "Median Gap" Calculation

A married couple, both 65, retiring in 2025:

• Median combined savings: $185,000 (using the 55–64 household median as a retirement entry proxy)
• Projected healthcare costs: $345,000
• The math: $185,000 − $345,000 = negative $160,000

The typical couple's entire retirement savings is wiped out by healthcare costs alone. Before a single grocery bill, utility payment, or property tax.

This is why Social Security matters so much for the median American. The average couple's combined $38,496/year in Social Security becomes the primary funding source for everything that isn't medical.

The Pre-Medicare Gap

For people who retire before 65, healthcare costs are even steeper.

A 60-year-old retiring five years before Medicare faces roughly $79,000 in health insurance premiums alone before reaching age 65 [9]. That's before deductibles, copays, or any actual medical care.

ACA subsidies can reduce these costs dramatically if you manage your taxable income. But if the enhanced premium tax credits expire (they've been extended multiple times but remain politically uncertain), marketplace premiums could be even higher.

Longevity: The Risk You Can't Insure Against

People are living longer. That's wonderful news, unless you're running the numbers on a fixed portfolio.

For a 65-year-old couple, there's a 47% probability that at least one spouse will live to age 90 [10]. That means a "30-year retirement" isn't the edge case. It's nearly a coin flip.

Planning for a 25-year retirement when there's a 50/50 chance one of you will need 30+ years of funding is like buying a house and hoping the roof lasts. Hope isn't a plan.

The implication: withdrawal rates matter. At 4%, a portfolio has historically survived 30 years. At 3.5%, the probability of surviving 40 years increases significantly. That extra half-percent of caution can mean the difference between dying with money and dying broke.

Contribution Limits: The Tools You Have

For 2026, here's what the IRS allows you to save in tax-advantaged accounts [11]:

The "Super Catch-Up" for those aged 60 to 63 is new under SECURE 2.0. It allows an extra $3,250 in 401(k) contributions above the standard catch-up during the four years when most people are in their peak earning period and closest to retirement [11].

If you maxed every available account as a single person age 61 with an HSA, you could save $48,750 in tax-advantaged accounts in a single year. That's an extraordinary amount of tax-sheltered saving. Very few people do it. But the option exists.

The Retirement Confidence Gap

Bankrate's 2025 survey found that 58% of workers feel "behind" on retirement savings [3]. The Retirement Confidence Survey from EBRI found that confidence levels have remained stubbornly flat for years, with about 23% of workers saying they're "not at all confident" they'll have enough [12].

The disconnect between "feeling behind" and "doing something about it" is real. The average employee contribution rate to a 401(k) is 7.4% of salary [13]. With employer matching, the total reaches about 11.7%. Most financial planners recommend saving 15% to 20% of gross income for retirement. The gap between 11.7% and 15% doesn't sound like much, but over 30 years, it represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in foregone savings.

Putting It All Together: The "Net Gap"

No single competitor article combines the savings data, the spending data, and the income data into one view. Here's what happens when you do.

Scenario: Typical single retiree, age 65

• Median savings: ~$200,000 (from SCF data for 65–74)
• Healthcare costs through retirement: $172,500
• Remaining for everything else: $27,500 over potentially 25 years (about $1,100/year)
• Social Security: $24,852/year
• Total annual income from all sources: approximately $25,952 (Social Security + the tiny portfolio drawdown)

That's livable. Barely. It requires low housing costs (a paid-off home or subsidized housing), no major unexpected expenses, and no long-term care needs. One car repair, one roof replacement, one extended hospital stay, and the math collapses.

This is why the standard advice of "save early, save often, save more" isn't just financial industry marketing. The numbers are genuinely scary for the median American.

Your Next Move

1. Find where you stand. Compare your retirement savings to the median for your age group in the table above. You're not competing with anyone. You're measuring the gap between where you are and where you need to be.

2. Check your savings rate. (Annual retirement contributions ÷ gross income) × 100. If it's below 15%, look for room to increase. Even 1% more per year adds up significantly over decades.

3. Price your healthcare. Go to HealthCare.gov and get a premium estimate for your age. Add $172,500 per person for post-Medicare costs. These numbers need to be in your plan, not ignored.

4. If you're 60–63, use the Super Catch-Up. Ask your HR department whether your plan offers the $11,250 catch-up contribution. If it does, this is the single most impactful thing you can do for your retirement in the next four years.

5. Create your SSA.gov account and check your projected benefit at ages 62, 67, and 70. This is the foundation of your guaranteed income in retirement.

For a step-by-step guide on building a plan around these numbers, see our retirement planning guide. For tools to model your specific scenario, use our early retirement calculator. And if the savings gap feels too large to close through saving alone, our guide to growing your income through side hustles covers ways to increase the top line.

References

1. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. (2023). Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) 2022. Federalreserve.gov. https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm
2. Schroders. (2024). DC Lens Q2 2024. 401kspecialistmag.com.
3. Bankrate. (2025). 2025 Retirement Savings Survey. Bankrate.com.
4. Social Security Administration. (2025). Income of the Aged Chartbook. SSA.gov.
5. Social Security Administration. (2025). Social Security Announces 2.8 Percent Benefit Increase for 2026. SSA.gov.
6. Nasdaq / SSA. (2025). Average Social Security Benefit for Couples. Nasdaq.com.
7. Social Security Administration. (2026). Retirement Benefits: Benefits Calculated for 2026. SSA.gov.
8. Fidelity Investments. (2025). Fidelity Releases 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate. Fidelity Newsroom.
9. ValuePenguin. (2026). Average Cost of Health Insurance (2026). ValuePenguin.com.
10. RBC Wealth Management. (2025). How to Plan Your Health Care and Life Expectancy. RBCwealthmanagement.com.
11. Internal Revenue Service. (2025). 401(k) limit increases to $24,500 for 2026, IRA limit increases to $7,500. IRS.gov.
12. Employee Benefit Research Institute. (2024). 2024 Retirement Confidence Survey. EBRI.org.
13. Vanguard. (2024). How America Saves 2024. Vanguard Institutional.