Here’s How Much People Have Saved for Retirement

November 23, 2021

There’s reportedly a Chinese proverb that says the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is now. You could say the same about saving for retirement. Yes, it’s great to start early, but if you can’t? Then start today. It’s never too late. Some 43% of respondents to a recent large-scale survey reported having less than $25,000 saved up for retirement, including over a third of people over age 45. It’s a start. Try not to get discouraged looking at savings targets that seem out of reach. My colleague Juila Glum puts retirement goals in perspective in this fun YouTube video, so please check it out!

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What are you up to these days?

I like to go to the movies and eat out. I still do some hypnosis. I’ve done stage shows in Vegas and D.C. and I’ve done some more private work in Huntsville. It’s fun. They’re healing themselves. I’m just helping them get there.

When my mom passes, which I hope won’t be for a long time, I’m thinking of moving to the Villages. I have a buddy there.

Cool! What’s your investing philosophy?

Let someone else do it. I have a smart broker at Citibank. I started saving at age 15. Then at 20, in 1976, I got a traumatic brain injury from a car accident. I was a manager at McDonald’s at the time. I got my start in investing with $5,000 in McDonald’s stock, reinvesting the dividends. Now, I have about $900,000, enough that I live off the interest. That’s pretty good from part-time jobs.

I’d say! What are you most proud of?

I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I think I did well given the injuries I had. I’m also proud of the hypnosis work I did with a former CEO here in Huntsville. He couldn't sleep more than an hour a night, tossing & turning. Two sessions in, he slept a full eight hours a night. Followed up a year later, he still sleeps eight hours a night. I always like to say about hypnosis, the folks who it works for swear by it, and the people who it doesn’t work for swear at it.

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Elizabeth O'Brien is deputy editor at Money. She has covered retirement and health care for nearly a decade. A Brooklyn resident and mom of two boys, she navigates the alphabet soup of Medicare and the New York City subway system with equal ease. You can email her at elizabeth.obrien@money.com and follow her on Twitter at @elizobrien.

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