Two dueling versions of the looming retirement crisis that affects millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers in various ways. Mary Childs wrote that the shortfall is actually worse than we all think. For example:

The average saver puts 6.8% of their annual income into their workplace retirement plan...

Boomers are saving 8.5% of their annual income, while Gen X workers save 7.4%. Millennials are saving just 5.7% because many of them are more focused on paying down debt, starting a family and buying their first home. Okay, so far this makes sense.

But according to the article, "Two-thirds still factor in income from Social Security, in addition to what they’re saving for retirement personally, the survey found. But 42% don’t even believe those benefits will be available to them when the time comes. What’s worse, 27% of American workers have already borrowed against their workplace retirement plan, and 27% have accepted penalties to pull money out."

You can read more at Mary's article here at Barron's:

Americans Know They’re Not Ready for Retirement. But It’s Worse Than They Think.https://www.barrons.com/articles/americans-unprepared-for-retirement-51554503375

Now, there's a conflicting story being told at the same time, which is that the "retirement crisis" is phony, and that any solution coming from the government is bound to be a failure.

Andrew Biggs, who represents the American Enterprise Institute, had an opinion piece at the Wall Street Journal in opposition to a House Democrat proposal to expand Social Security coverage...

"But there is no retirement crisis among either today’s retirees or tomorrow’s. Eight in 10 retirees tell Gallup they have enough money to “live comfortably,” and 6 in 10 working-age households say the same. Seventy-five percent of retirees tell the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances they have “at least enough to maintain [their] standard of living,” up from 61% in 1992. Census Bureau research that uses Internal Revenue Service data to measure retirees’ incomes found that the over-65 poverty rate was only 6.7% in 2012, down from 9.7% in 1990 and lower than any other age group."

You can read the rest of his op-ed here:

The Phony Retirement Crisis
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-phony-retirement-crisis-11551398196

So which is it? Are things getting better or worse? Let us know what you think, leave a comment below!

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