“There is some good average retirement income 2018 news. According to research from Boston College, the percentage of retirees who are at risk of falling short in retirement decreased from 52 to 50 percent.”
And how does the average baby boomer retirement income weigh in here?
“Okay… that is not really tremendously good news. It is indeed
a very modest gain. But, the small improvement at least means that
things are not getting worse for retirees.” – The New Retirement website.
The Average Baby Boomer Retirement Income – Which %?
This piece of news quoted above states it’s neither good nor bad. It’s 2% better for retirees. But what does that really mean?
This news piece tells us that the tiny improvement in the numbers can be attributed to the increase in home and stock values over the past few years. It goes on to add however, that this area of gain
“is really only helping wealthier households. The top third of all households own about 87% of all equities which means that most of the retirement financial gains went to households that already were not at risk.”
When Will Baby Boomers Retire
According to The Retirement website, there are some very positive reasons for continuing to work after the age of 65. 65 years is the traditionally designated age, although it is currently 67 in the US and Canada. And evidently that’s not written in stone!
People live longer now. Whatever retirement savings or pension you have, it has got to keep you going for a couple of decades in many cases.
If you keep working for a few years – and many do into their 80’s – you can defer using your savings. Let them grow or maintain, while you make money to live on.
Working longer may enable you to collect higher social security benefits. Starting to collect at the full retirement age will give you larger monthly amounts.
However, depending on your current income, and whether or not you’re single and alone (i.e., without an extended family who will help you) or married, you may need to collect earlier.
“According to another report by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, the most popular age to start benefits is 62 (the earliest age possible). A full 42% of men and 48% of women start benefits at 62.” – full article here.
Top Medical Insurance Plans
In one of the jobs I’ve had, I saw retired people become quite shocked at their transition from being a member of one of the top medical insurance plans, to Medicare.
Corporations can buy large group plans and usually will cover 50% of the employee’s cost. This includes family members if the individual buys coverage for them too.
Even if a spouse turns 65, they can remain on the employee’s plan as a primary policy. So this is a big reason to keep working while those medical benefits are available.
Medicare is an HMO plan with all the inherent restrictions for the benefits. Medicare does not cover chronic or degenerating conditions, which many people have by the time they retire.
Medicare has a yearly deductible and co-payments, just like the corporate PPO plans.
Another scenario is that with one spouse still working, the non-working senior can sign up for Medicare and use the employee benefit plan as a secondary policy. This way that spouse will get the benefits that Medicare doesn’t cover through the job policy. They won’t have any co-payments because the employee policy will pick up that cost.
As many know, medical costs in the US can become catastrophic if a health disaster strikes.
What Is The Average Retirement Income
The 2016 US Census provided the following figures for baby boomer median incomes.
Households Aged 55-64 – $62,802
Households Aged 65-74 – $47,432
Households Aged 75 and Older – $30,635
These are national averages and may have no resemblance to the median incomes of your zip code, or postal region in another country.
Looking at the figures above however, I have to wonder how comfortable those householders are.
Two main choices they would have to live more comfortably, would be to downsize their residence, or move to a lower property cost/rental area.
For an experiment I recently compared the cost of living between Los Angeles, California and Bakersfield, California. In Bakersfield salaries were 22% lower, yet real estate was 66% lower.
Choosing to leave the beaches and mountainous areas near Los Angeles for hot, dry Bakersfield would be painful.
You can do your own comparisons at the Best Places website.
Best Retirement Jobs For Seniors
The Retirement site has a list of what they consider to be the best retirement jobs for seniors.
Number 1 is to start your own business! Definitely along the lines of thought that this website is all about. Why?
Because a home business online can be done with no start up cost, except your time.
Would you like to see how that works right now?
Suggestion number 2 is to work online with a hobby or interest that you really love! If you are authentically connected to your subject matter your writing will be natural, with no forced enthusiasm.
This will in turn, enable your readers to connect with it too.
Related material: Baby Boomers And Marketing.
Statistics show that the average baby boomer retirement income isn’t enough. That 50% is far from enough!
If you’re looking ahead to a means of creating retirement income, while remaining independent in your schedule, and lifestyle, I recommend Wealthy Affiliate blog training to establish you properly as a marketer online.
You have wealth of experience to draw from! Get the good training!
What do you think? What are your plans to thrive in your retirement years? Have you thought of any questions?
As a baby boomer myself, I’m facing retirement age (65) in less than 10 years. I don’t have a huge income (I’m an internet entrepreneur), not enough to pay into a pension scheme at the levels I’m told are needed. Here in Ireland. pension pots have been hit badly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis with some paying out as little as 50% of what retirees expected.
The retirement age is being increased from 65 to 67. Being a cynic, I don’t believe this is being done in the interest of the worker – keeping them gainfully occupied for another couple of years. Instead, I think it’s so that the government will have to pay out less money to retirees.
My own small pension pot has been losing 3% per year in value. I can’t cash it in until I’m 60. So it’ll probably lose another 10-15% in value before I can get access to it. And I’m paying management fees to the financial institution for this wonderful performance.
I can’t see myself ever retiring. That’s both the curse and benefit of working for yourself. If you love what you do, you can continue doing it after retirement age (should keep the brain sharp as well). On the other hand, if you are looking forward to retirement, you have to keep up the daily grind to pay the bills.
Hi Gary. Thanks so much for sharing the story of your retirement prospects here. I wonder how many baby boomers are in the same boat. I know a few people who lost a few income properties, completely after 2008. There must be millions of seniors who can’t see retiring at all. I’m hoping that for myself and everyone who tries it, internet marketing or other forms of working at home will make the non-retirement a more livable situation.
Hello Dee,
Great article. Baby boomers, Gen X, Millennials – all these terms! But your stats make things look ominous. I love the fact that you offer an alternative to the baby boomers. It is so nice when you can still ‘make money’ after you have left the ‘traditional’ work scene. Yes, internet businesses do give you a chance to stay at home and still generate an income.
Thanks and much success to you.
Michelle
Best wishes for your success too Michelle! It’s a dire time for those who have lost retirement wealth in any form. I was listening to call-in radio show yesterday and a couple of experts were giving advice. Fascinating to hear from a man who only had $1.6 million in his retirement fund and he was panicking because he needed a new car. What a perspective, that many seniors would love to have!
I think that marketing online is a great way to go if you need more money in retirement, and it offers a good lifestyle. Cheers.
Retirement income is on the minds of most people. Even my daughter, a millennial, is concerned about making sure she puts enough money away from the very beginning. I have to admit that i am concerned, as well. My husband and I have plans for our retirement that do not consist of sitting at home all the time. We want to be able to travel and see the world. That is why I started my own online business. I highly recommend Wealthy Affiliate to anyone looking to make moey for retirement!
I’m glad your daughter has the mind set! The earlier a person starts the better. I’m sure many couples want to have some fun and see the world before they are too old to travel. I wish you all the best with your business!
Hi, this is definitely something to think about. What to do for retirement income. My job has a decent pension plan, but I am hoping to soon move on to working from home, and then have the freedom to travel and have the laptop lifestyle, while earning a living (and hopefully more). If that is the case, then I don’t see the need to retire once its established. Thanks for the great post.
Hi Tara. I wish you success in achieving the laptop lifestyle! I know many people who don’t necessarily want to retire. They do want the choices that working on a computer will provide them, just as you described. I really hope to help folks move toward that goal. Thanks for your thoughts here!