Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 55 percent of working age households in America are now at risk of being unable to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living, according to a new Issue Brief published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.
The Center for Retirement Research publishes the National Retirement Risk Index (NRRI) every three years to gauge retirement preparedness in America.
“The NRRI has most likely increased from 50 percent to 55 percent, and changes in asset prices and further declines in the interest rate would only make the increase larger,” says the Issue Brief’s authors. “Finally, the NRRI does not fully capture the harm done to a population with so many households already at risk, as the pandemic has made the savings gap larger.”
The results underscore the need for policies that provide well-targeted assistance to employers and individuals aimed at preventing more people from becoming unemployed and getting those who are unemployed back to work quickly as the pandemic subsides, the Issue Brief adds. The shorter the spell of unemployment, the less harm people will experience to their long-term retirement prospects. Download the full brief.
55 Percent of Working Households Face Retirement Challenges
