How Much Have Americans Aged 65–74 Saved for Retirement? New Data Reveals Surprising Trends

How Many People in Their Mid-60s to Early 70s Have Any Retirement Savings

People ages 65 to 74 sit at a financial crossroads: Many have reached their highest net worth even as their incomes begin to fall with retirement. 

According to the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, 51% of households in their mid-60s to early 70s had money in retirement-specific accounts in 2022, the most recent year available. That’s the highest percentage for this age range since 2007, but lower than what most younger age groups reported, with the exception of those under 35.

The lower participation rate among older households is likely due to several factors, according to Mindy Yu, senior director of investing at Betterment. It “may reflect a natural drawdown of assets in retirement, as well as the possibility that older generations were more likely to rely on pension plans, which are not included in this dataset.”

By contrast, younger households have benefited from greater access to retirement savings plans and more education around investing early, she said.

How Much Retirement Savings People in This Age Range Have on Average

For those in their mid-60s to early 70s who reported having retirement accounts in 2022, the median balance was $200,000. That figure is well above the balances reported by other age groups. (Medians are used here instead of averages to reduce the influence of exceptionally high or low balances.)

“For households still holding retirement accounts (at this age), median wealth rose meaningfully through 2022,” said Eric Ludwig, director of the Center for Retirement Income at The American College of Financial Services. However, inequality widened: “Some retirees are very well positioned; others are drawing down with little margin for error,” he said.

But at this stage, drawing comparisons among peers is less valuable than understanding whether your income sources and withdrawals can support your spending throughout retirement. “Success is less about how much is saved and more about how well assets are coordinated with spending, taxes, and withdrawal rules,” Ludwig said.

How To Make the Most of Your Savings in Retirement

Shifting from saving for retirement to spending in retirement can be a challenge. “You’ve trained yourself for 30 or 40 years to save, to defer, to accumulate,” Ludwig said. “Then one day someone tells you to reverse course and spend.”

For many people in their late 60s and early 70s, spending decisions are shaped not just by savings levels but by uncertainty around rising healthcare costs, longevity, and how expenses may change over time. Social Security can be one source of predictable income, but it’s not meant to cover all of your expenses. Yu said savings in a 401(k) or IRA can provide additional flexibility to help navigate unexpected costs or market shifts.

But how much can you spend when you don’t know how many years your savings need to last? Broad retirement models suggest people can often spend more than they expect, Ludwig said, but no calculator can say what “enough” is.

He offered this recommendation: Give yourself permission to spend on things that create memories in the earlier years of retirement, when you might want to do something adventurous like “hike Patagonia or bicycle through Vietnam.” 

“The 85-year-old version of you won’t regret the trip you took at 65,” he said. “They’ll only regret the trip you didn’t take because you were afraid of a spreadsheet.”

For many households in this age range, short-term decisions—how much to spend, when to adjust, and how to balance security with meaningful experiences—will be what matters most for their financial health in retirement.