Retirement facts and figures to consider

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Amid a financial bloodbath of excess debt, lack of savings, and lack of income, America is going through a growing retirement crisis. In the next two decades alone, around 10,000 baby boomers will turn 65 years old every day.

Here are some retirement facts and figures to think about.

Got savings?: In a recent GoBankingRates.com survey, more than half of Americans had less than $10,000 saved for retirement. One in three had nothing saved.

Cost of care: Sixty percent of pre-retirees do not expect to receive enough income from Social Security and employer pension to pay for basic living expenses in retirement. Four out of 10 retires, too, will spend more than expected on health and long-term care costs during retirement. A mere 7 percent of those over age 65 have long-term care insurance.

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What successful retirement planning takes: One should keep consistent saving in mind to provide for a time when income is no longer generated from a job. The sad truth is that 35 percent of Americans reveals that they don’t contribute to retirement accounts such as a 401(k) or IRA, a 2009 CareerBuilder survey noted.

Retirement might not come on one’s terms: Gallup found that the average retirement age is 62, while the Center for Retirement Research at Boston showed that the average retirement age is around 64 for men, 62 for women. Yet 55 percent of retirees retired earlier than anticipated, citing health reasons and job loss respectively.

There’s a long road to financial literacy: Around the world, 3.5 billion adults, mostly in developing nations, lack an understanding of basic financial concepts, such as inflation and compound interest. This can cause stress and uncertainty, but also prompts millennials to talk to a financial advisor about retirement planning.

Delos H. Yancey III is the chairman, president, and CEO of State Mutual Insurance. For similar reads, click here.