How would more saving affect the National Retirement Risk Index?

Abstract

The brief's key findings are: (1) 50 percent of working-age households are at risk of falling short in retirement. (2) The question is how much would additional retirement saving improve the picture? (3) The results show that boosting the 401(k) contribution rate for eligible workers by 5 percentage points would only modestly reduce retirement risk overall. (4) The impact would be a bit larger if all workers had access to an employer-based retirement plan, but - even then - many households would still be at risk. (5) The only way to make dramatic progress is to combine saving more with working two years longer, which cuts the share of "at risk" households to about 25 percent.