:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-1401913742-38111c67d5a048c699b40bcfa5c547a0.jpg "What the Average American Has Saved by Age 65-74—And How You Compare")
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| Where Else People Age 65-74 Are Saving Money | ||
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Percent of Households with This Asset | Median Value for Holders of This Asset |
| CDs | 11.4% | $5,300 |
| Savings Bonds | 8.2% | $10,000 |
| Stocks (Directly Held) | 20.4% | $65,000 |
| Retirement Accounts | 51.0% | $200,000 |
| Bonds (Directly Held) | 2.2% | $322,000 |
“Directly held” means the asset is not in a retirement account. The value of bonds in this table looks much higher than the other categories, especially given that only a tiny fraction of 65- to 74-year-olds owns directly held corporate or municipal bonds. This small group either holds numerous bonds, bonds with high values, or both. Also, survey respondents self-report values and could have reported face values of bonds that they found on account statements, rather than market values, which may have been lower in 2022.
Strategies to Maximize Your Retirement Savings in Your 60s and 70s
As with all age groups, there’s no set amount to save if you’re in the 65-74 age bracket. Lifestyle, expenses, and income streams all impact the right dollar amount for you. “We want to look at the income sources that are going to last for the entire lifetime of one or both people in the household, and that really informs how much risk a person can take with the rest of their retirement savings,” said Guli Fager, a certified financial planner with Toler Financial Group.
“For most folks, unless they start retirement with some type of chronic illness that already costs quite a deal of money, the expensive stuff is going to happen later,” she said. “It is really important to have something that has the potential to grow faster than the rate of inflation.”
Fager offers these strategies to help align your resources with your goals to ensure your savings keep working for you:
- Growth assets still matter: Since health care is a big retirement cost that may arise later in life, it’s important to keep some growth-oriented investments, such as stocks, to help your savings keep pace with inflation and extend their lifespan, Fager said. She also noted that households with guaranteed income, such as a pension in addition to Social Security, can often take more investment risk, whereas others may need to invest more conservatively to protect their assets. Many people seem to follow this common piece of asset-allocation advice: “100 minus your age in stocks and then the rest in bonds,” Fager said.
- Evaluate your debt and mortgage strategy: It often makes sense to eliminate high-interest or depreciating debt, like credit cards, personal loans, or auto loans, but there are a few ways to think about a mortgage, Fager said. Reducing monthly expenses by eliminating a mortgage can make sense when transitioning to a lower retirement income, but low-interest mortgages may not need to be paid off immediately—especially if they free up cash flow or are outpaced by investment returns, she said.
- Conduct financial check-ins: Review your income, expenses, and cash flow at least annually—especially after changes like Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLA), or increases in your property taxes or Medicare premiums, Fager said. She noted that it’s important to remember that if you receive a pension, particularly a public sector one, it likely will not adjust for inflation. Periodically revisiting these details and your finances helps ensure your budget stays aligned with your reality.
- Plan for transitions: As you age, it’s helpful to have a trusted person—a spouse, adult child, or financial advisor—who can help monitor accounts, catch missed payments, and assist with day-to-day financial tasks if needed. People sometimes don’t review emails and calendars in retirement the same way they did when they were working, Fager said, and credit card payments not set to auto-pay can end up late. It can be that “they just forgot because they’re living their best lives, but that’s also one of the signs of early cognitive task management issues—bills suddenly are slipping and you don’t want to wind up getting behind,” she said.
How to Use High-Yield Accounts and CDs to Boost Your Savings
If you’re looking to grow your short-term savings, both high-yield savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CDs) can be smart places to put your cash.
High-yield savings accounts give you flexible access to your funds while typically offering much better returns than traditional savings accounts. However, keep in mind that these interest rates are variable, meaning your bank or credit union can adjust them at any time. Right now, 12 of the highest-paying savings accounts pay between 4.40% and 5.00% annual percentage yield (APY).
If you can afford to set your money aside for a while, a CD might offer an ideal fit. These accounts offer fixed interest rates for a set term—anywhere from a few months to several years—and your return is locked in, no matter how interest rates shift. Today’s top-paying CDs are currently offering APYs up to 4.60%. This may be the last time we see CD rates this high for a while, given that the Federal Reserve is expected to cut the federal funds rate this month—so “it’s still a good time to get money into CDs,” Fager said.
As with bonds, be sure to track your CD’s maturity date, and have a plan for when it matures, she said. Otherwise, your CD will likely be renewed into one that’s less enticing than your original—especially if your CD had a promotional rate on an unusual term, such as 5 or 7 months.
Daily Rankings of the Best CDs and Savings Accounts
We update these rankings every business day to give you the best deposit rates available:
Important
Note that the “top rates” quoted here are the highest nationally available rates Investopedia has identified in its daily rate research on hundreds of banks and credit unions. This is much different than the national average, which includes all banks offering a CD with that term, including many large banks that pay a pittance in interest. Thus, the national averages are always quite low, while the top rates you can unearth by shopping around are often 5, 10, or even 15 times higher.
How We Find the Best Savings and CD Rates
Every business day, Investopedia tracks the rate data of more than 200 banks and credit unions that offer CDs and savings accounts to customers nationwide and determines daily rankings of the top-paying accounts. To qualify for our lists, the institution must be federally insured (FDIC for banks, NCUA for credit unions), and the account’s minimum initial deposit must not exceed $25,000. It also cannot specify a maximum deposit amount that’s below $5,000.
Banks must be available in at least 40 states to qualify as nationally available. And while some credit unions require you to donate to a specific charity or association to become a member if you don’t meet other eligibility criteria (e.g., you don’t live in a certain area or work in a certain kind of job), we exclude credit unions whose donation requirement is $40 or more. For more about how we choose the best rates, read our full methodology.
