Surveys show that about one-third of unretired Americans have no retirement savings, including about 20 percent of households aged 55 to 64. That's a major problem financial advisers say.
"Many people are just too emotional and typically overwhelmed when it comes to saving for retirement," Melody Juge, president of Life Income Management retirement advisory firm, tells the
New York Post. "They put it off, and then it becomes too late to save."
Life circumstances can easily get in the way. "People can have medical conditions and other circumstances, so they just don’t save," financial adviser Anthony Ogorek tells the paper.
"Then they intend to keep working into their 60s, but they are no longer able to do so."
Many people are relying on Social Security to finance their retirement, but the average Social
Security recipient garnered only $1,300 a month in 2014, or $15,600 for the year.
Social Security rules may need to be changed to require workers to save for retirement, Ogorek says.
Many experts say a gradual retirement process can make the transition easier for people financially and psychologically.
"Most people assume that in retirement they have to go from working full time for 40 years to stopping cold turkey one day, but there is some benefit to doing it in phases," gerontologist Ken Dychtwald, CEO of Age Wave, a think tank on aging issues, tells
USA Today.
Some companies permit older workers to reduce their schedule to three or four days a week, he says. That allows for a "kind of a glide path instead of a hard stop."