Hear People’s Real Stories about Saving for Retirement

Are you tired of hearing the same old retirement advice that makes you feel worse about your own saving? So am I.

That’s why I launched Reset Retirement, a new podcast by the Retirement Equity Lab (ReLab) that tells the real stories of retirement. We hear from people of all ages – millennials, mid-career professionals, and retirees – about what it’s really like to save in a system that only works for a privileged few.

In episode 1, I talk to Henry and Bridget about a fear that far too many have: being poor in retirement.

Both Bridget and Henry have retirement coverage from their employer, which makes them lucky since 60% of American workers are not offered coverage at their job. But they have different types of coverage. Henry is a union member, which gives him access to a traditional pension. Bridget, on the other hand, isn’t a union member and instead receives a defined contribution plan, a 401(k), from her employer.

Henry says, “I feel confident at this point. I know many of my colleagues don’t have as much put away – those who aren’t in unions or participating in a pension. But I have a round number, around $1 million dollars, is what I think I will probably [have] at minimum to retire plus my Social Security.”

Henry’s pension entitles him to a monthly check for life once he retires based on the number of years he’s on the job. Yet, when I ask him if he worries about being poor in retirement, he answers: “Absolutely.” He explains, “Even with that amount of money…my pension – although it feels very secure – there is no guarantee that the market will perform.”

Without a pension, Bridget’s retirement fears are based on whether or not she can save enough.

First, she must decide how much to save and set these funds aside in her 401(k). As she says, “My biggest hurdle is debt. Right now I have a lot of competition for each dollar I earn. Do I put it into saving for a house, do I put it toward my student loans, do I put it towards my retirement savings, or do I put it towards eating, which is something that I also like?”

Second, Bridget worries about having enough time to save. “Competition for the income that’s coming in makes me feel much more reliant on the job market,” she says. “As a woman, I feel like the labor market doesn’t get any friendlier as women get older. And I’m dependent on it.”

In each episode, we turn to a round table of experts to look at how our stories relate to what’s happening across the nation. In episode 1, I ask ReLab economists if Henry and Bridget reflect the norm. I ask, do most people fear poverty in retirement? Tony Webb, a PhD economist who’s dedicated his career to researching the U.S. retirement system quickly answers, “Yes. We observe inadequate savings right the way up the income distribution.”

Economist Sia Radpour explains the difference between those who have a traditional pension like Henry and those who have a 401(k)-type plan like Bridget.  “Henry doesn’t face any investment risk because the pension takes some money and gives it to professionals to invest,” he says. “But Bridget has to decide how she wants to invest the money. Her choices are limited, but there is always the risk that you make the wrong decision. There are always high fees and many challenges she has to overcome to have a decent return on this investment.”

Webb also points out that Bridget’s fear of keeping a job so she can save enough is not uncommon. Rather, it’s a system-wide problem that everyone faces. He says, “An Excel spreadsheet model of saving for retirement shows that you carry on working without a gap from age 50 until age 66 – your wages increase every year. Now, many people, they face periods of unemployment in their 50s. They may be forced into premature retirement. When these things happen, the spreadsheet model really falls apart.”

This is what the podcast is about – showing people they are not alone. By lifting up real stories of retirement, we can see that it isn’t people who fail, it’s the system that fails to work for real people. Now is the time for people to overcome attempts to ‘blame the victim’ and join together to demand a system that works.

We end each episode with a ‘bright spot’ for retirement reform, which talks about how people are coming together in action rather than shutting down in shame. Tune in to Reset Retirement to hear about how states are taking the lead to ensure more people can get retirement coverage, a necessary first step to the universal access we should demand in our retirement system.