No Matter How We Measure It, There’s No Retirement Crisis

Seemingly everyone agrees there’s a retirement crisis – everyone, that is, except for retirees themselves. In an April Wall Street Journal article, I noted that 86% of seniors in a Federal Reserve survey described their financial situation as either “doing okay” or “living comfortably.” Just 3% said they were “finding it difficult to get by.” That sure doesn’t look like a retirement crisis.

But two well-regarded economists take issue with how to interpret these figures. In the process, they started what I think is a useful discussion about retirement security – a topic that is front of mind for millions of Americans.