Every generation seems to enjoy pointing at the newest generation coming up behind them and saying, “Those kids today! They just don’t …”

Today’s aging Baby Boomers are no different. It’s common to hear those “of a certain age,” complaining about Millennials (those aged 22 to 37, currently). It may be criticism of their wardrobe, their music, their language – or their lack of saving for the future.

But that last might be a case of the pot calling the kettle black. While it’s true that many Millennials aren’t saving enough for their retirement plan, guess who else has made that same mistake?

Barely over half (52 percent) of households with workers aged 55 to 64 even have a 401(k) plan at all.

And those in their final decade of working years who do have 401(k) accounts or IRAs for their retirement are not saving nearly enough to replace the income they will lose when they retire.

The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College compiles statistics regarding Americans and their retirement.

Using the most recent data available (from 2016), they created the chart below which shows how much people in their final decade of an average working career (aged 55-64) have in their 401(k) or IRA retirement plans – if they even participate in one at all.

This illustrates a couple of significant points.

First, notice that out of all the households with workers in this age range, only 52 percent have a 401(k) retirement plan. While some may have an IRA, pension plan or trust fund, most of the remaining 48 percent will be completely dependent upon Social Security for income during their retirement. And that will almost certainly not be enough.

And it’s not intended to be enough. Social Security does not replace the income from your working years. It replaces a portion of it. The Social Security Administration says, “If you have average earnings, your Social Security retirement benefits will replace only about 40 percent.” And that percent is not guaranteed – it is higher for lower incomes and smaller for larger incomes. Worse yet, in the lifetimes of many of those reading this, it’s possible that percent will be reduced for everyone. So, depending upon Social Security to provide all your retirement income is a pipe dream.

Second, the chart reveals that those who are saving in a retirement plan are not saving nearly enough to replace the income they will lose when they retire.

Ideally, we’d all like to replace 100 percent of our working income – receiving the same amount to spend per year during retirement as we did previously. At a minimum, the Social Security Administration says most people will probably need at least 70 percent of their working income to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed before retirement. With that in mind, let’s look at those numbers from the chart for an example from each income level.

If you earned $30,000 before taxes when working, and ended up with that median IRA/401(k) balance of $13,000 when you retired, at an average 3.5 percent return your savings would generate $455 gross annual income during your retirement.

If Social Security supplies 40 percent of your previous income, that’s another $12,000.

You’re $17,545 short per year of replacing 100 percent of your working income.

You’re $8,545 short per year of replacing just 70 percent of your working income.

If you earned $50,000 before taxes when working (the average of the next income group), and ended up with that median IRA/401(k) balance of $53,000 when you retired, at an average 3.5% return your savings would generate $1,855 gross annual income during your retirement.

If Social Security supplies 40 percent of your previous income, that’s another $20,000.

You’re $28,145 short per year of replacing 100 percent of your working income.

You’re $13,145 short per year of replacing just 70 percent of your working income.

If you earned $76,000 before taxes when working (the average of the middle income group), and ended up with that median IRA/401(k) balance of $100,000 when you retired, at an average 3.5 percent return your savings would generate $3,500 gross annual income during your retirement.

If Social Security supplies 40 percent of your previous income, that’s another $30,400.

You’re $42,100 short per year of replacing 100 percent of your working income.

You’re $19,300 short per year of replacing just 70 percent of your working income.

If you earned $115,000 before taxes when working (the average of the next income group), and ended up with that median IRA/401(k) balance of $132,000 when you retired, at an average 3.5 percent return your savings would generate $4,620 gross annual income during your retirement.

If Social Security supplies 40 percent of your previous income, that’s another $46,000.

You’re $64,380 short per year of replacing 100 percent of your working income.

You’re $29,880 short per year of replacing just 70 percent of your working income.

If you earned $138,000 before taxes when working (the lowest annual income of the highest paid group), and ended up with that median IRA/401(k) balance of $452,000 when you retired, at an average 3.5 percent return your retirement savings would generate $15,820 gross annual income during your retirement.

If Social Security supplies 40 percent of your previous income, that’s another $55,200.

You’re $66,980 short per year of replacing 100 percent of your working income.

You’re $25,580 short per year of replacing just 70 percent of your working income.

No one accidentally arrives at a good retirement (with the exception of the very rare multi-million dollar lottery winner). It takes a plan. Preferably a written plan with specific actions you can follow to arrive at your retirement goal.

And everyone’s retirement goal is unique. It varies according to what is important and worthwhile to you — and, of course, it’s often limited by how much time you have before retirement to enact your plan.

At Texas Financial and Retirement, we begin by learning what a family’s goals are for their retirement years. Then we look at what they’ve accumulated toward those goals already and how many working years remain to add to those savings. And then we develop a custom plan for each family, with realistic expectations of maximizing retirement income and minimizing the tax burden on children or other heirs.

If you’re approaching retirement (no matter whether you’re above, below or just meeting those averages in the chart above), contact the Texas Financial and Retirement team at 903-534-5477 or bestclients@texasfinancialandretirement.com to set up a free initial visit. You can follow us on Facebook for more general information. We’ll do our best to help you ‘get retirement right.’