USA TODAY reposted this
Is it possible to live comfortably in retirement on Social Security income alone? Yes and no. Most Americans think you need at least $1 million in the bank, on top of Social Security, to live a comfortable retirement. Investment firms and news headlines reward that thinking: Plan to save 10 times your annual income before you retire, common wisdom suggests, if you want to keep the lifestyle you have now. But here’s the problem: Most Americans don’t save nearly that much. In the 65-to-74 age group, the typical family with a retirement account has about $200,000 saved. Only about half of those households have retirement accounts at all. And here’s the question: How are those people doing? We asked actual retirees. Here's what they told us. (Special thanks to Andrew Biggs of American Enterprise Institute for posing the question.)
