At 87 years old, Rebecca Reed loved to spend her days socializing with friends and, in her words, “eating bonbons and watching television.” Unfortunately, she doesn’t have the money for that – and she’s not sure she ever will.
According to a recent Business Insider interview, Reed has to keep working as a church secretary and editorial assistant just to keep going. Although she plans to retire by 90, she has doubts.
Looking back, Reed can see how she got into this situation: She let her dead husband take care of their joint finances, and she wasn’t informed about what was really going on.
The two had separate checking accounts, and after his death in 2011, she learned he had basically no savings. She also did not benefit from his insurance due to a complicated situation with her husband’s ex-wife and their children.
In addition, she was horrified to discover that there was still a mortgage on their house – and the payments were $1,000 a month.
Reed was forced to declare bankruptcy and rely on support from her family to get by.
Although this helped for a while, life continued to throw her curveballs, including two car accidents (one resulting in a broken shoulder), and a termite infestation that required her roof to be replaced (1).
She wasn’t able to save much earlier in life because her daughter and her daughter’s husband both died in the early 2000s, when they were in their 40s. They left Reed and her husband — who should have reached retirement — to raise their 11- and 13-year-old grandchildren. Both are now thriving in adulthood (2).
Today, Reed is on firmer financial footing. She has paid off her house and has income coming from her two jobs. She receives $3,000 per month from Social Security. However, she is not yet in a position to withdraw.
She also can’t afford the $6,000 a year it costs to insure her home in New Orleans. She is choosing to risk going without insurance, which means one hurricane can destroy almost everything she has worked for (1).
Reed says it can be a challenge to be the only one still working among her siblings and friends. They want to plan events around her work schedule.
Sometimes she thinks about quitting both jobs and tightening her budget to get by, but then another thought holds her back.
“In order to do the things I want to do, I need more income,” she says (2).
Reed is far from the only older adult in America who has had to put retirement plans on hold.
In fact, US Census data show that the proportion of workers over 55 has jumped from 10% in 1994 to 24% in 2022 — the largest increase for any demographic (3).
Many surveys show that Americans are feeling less and less confident about retiring in their 60s. For example, a 2025 report by the Alliance for Lifetime Income and Ipsos Group found that 30% of non-retirees between the ages of 61 and 65 are thinking about postponing retirement as a result of current economic and political uncertainty (4). Data from financial planning firm TIAA also found that nearly two-thirds of Americans say retirement between the ages of 65 and 70 is unrealistic (5).
Heading into 2026, insurance company Allianz Life found that 27% of Americans feel less confident about reaching their retirement goals than they did last year. Gen Xers, who are in their late 40s to early 60s and are seeing retirement on the horizon, are feeling especially gloomy at the prospect: 38% say they feel worse about it than last year (6).
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While there is no denying that macroeconomic pressures are hindering retirement dreams, some Americans may have an unrealistic idea of what they need to retire.
A survey by Northwestern Mutual shows that most Americans believe they need at least $1.26 million in their retirement savings (7).
However, most Americans who are saving for retirement are far from that goal. According to data from financial services firm Empower, the median retirement balance for the company’s American clients at age 60 is $544,439 (8). Internal data from Fidelity also shows that the average 401(k) balance for people 61 to 79 is just under $250,000 (9).
So, in reality, very few Americans have seven figures saved for retirement — but that doesn’t mean they have to work until they finally drop. Instead of shooting for an arbitrary “magic number,” each person’s retirement goal will be unique and depend on their lifestyle.
There were many things out of Rebecca Reed’s control, but two simple strategies could have helped prevent her current financial headache.
The first is to put aside savings earlier, even if it was just a little, that would have allowed her and her then-husband to take advantage of the compounds over time.
Ideally, this would have provided her with a better cushion to handle emergencies. Maybe she would be eating those candies by now if she went out a little further for a rainy day.
An equally significant issue was Reed’s ignorance of her family’s finances before her husband died. Reed didn’t know her financial obligations until they fell on her shoulders. And when that happened, she didn’t have the resources to handle the sudden deluge of expenses.
Communication about money is more important than ever as more couples choose to keep their finances separate. According to census data, the proportion of married couples without joint accounts has increased from 15% in 1996 to 23% in 2023 (10).
Although pooling your money may not be the solution, couples should consider scheduling time to check in on their finances to prevent nasty surprises.
A simple way to create transparency and start building for retirement is to download a money management app. These software tools link to bank accounts and cards to give a clean visual display of where your money is going. With this data, it’s easy to see where everything stands right now, and how much you can afford to put aside for retirement and other savings priorities.
It’s also important to set a realistic retirement savings goal rather than just guessing how much you need. One popular formula for a rough estimate is the rule of 25: multiply your expected annual expenses during retirement by 25.
If you’re still not sure how much you’ll need, consider reaching out to a registered financial professional for more personalized guidance on your case.
The more you know about your finances, the better you’ll be on track.
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Business Insider (1)(2); US Census (3, 10); Lifetime Income Alliance (4); TIAA (5) Allianz Life (6); Northwestern Mutual (7); Power (8); Loyalty (9)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.