Those Who Married Once More Likely Than Others to Have Retirement Savings (2024)

Many adults approaching retirement age may not be financially prepared to retire: 49% of adults ages 55 to 66 had no personal retirement savings in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’sSurvey of Income and Program Participation(SIPP).

How many times you marry and whether you have children with one or more partners can have continual and lasting impacts on retirement finances.

About 50% of women ages 55 to 66 have no personal retirement savings, compared to 47% of men.

SIPP is uniquely able to assist in this research as it collects data on all members in the household,marital history,fertility history(including multiple partner fertility)and retirement savings. The analyses in this story are based on 2018 SIPP data.

Do Men or Women Have More Retirement Savings?

About 50% of women ages 55 to 66 have no personal retirement savings, compared to 47% of men (Figure 1).

Women also lag men at the other end of the spectrum: 22% of women have $100,000 or more in personal retirement savings compared to 30% of men.

Because 65% of men and 58% of women ages 55 to 66 are married (defined as those whose spouse lives in the same household), the amount of retirement savings available is difficult to assess. Married couples plan their retirement together and save together.

Women and men have more comparable retirement savings when couples’ savings are combined with personal savings. However, there is still a smaller percentage of women who have retirement savings of $100,000 or more compared with their male counterparts (34.2% compared to 36.4%).

The term “retirement savings” is used here to mean the combined measure of personal and spousal retirement savings for those who are married and personal retirement savings for those not living with a spouse.

How Marital History Affects Retirement Savings

Marriage, divorce, widowhood, and any change in marital status can have lasting impacts on finances and savings.

Among those married once:

  • About 35% have no retirement savings, compared to 60% of those who never married and 40% of those who married more than once (Figure 2).
  • 4 in 10 of those who married once have $100,000 or more in retirement savings, compared to 2 in 10 of those who never married and 1 in 3 of those who married two or more times.

The same pattern occurs when we look at men and women separately.

Among both men and women, adults married once are less likely to have no retirement savings and more likely to have $100,000 or more in retirement savings, compared to those who have never been married and those who have been married two or more times.

How Do Children Impact Retirement Savings?

Whether an adult has biological children and whether they have children with multiple partners can have financial impacts across the life course and specifically influence retirement savings.

Compared to approximately 36% of adults who have children with one partner — referred to as single-partner fertility (SPF) — a larger percentage of those who have no children (about 42%) and those with multiple-partner fertility (MPF) (about 49%) have no retirement savings (Figure 3).

Furthermore, adults who have children with a single partner are also more likely to have $100,000 or more in retirement savings than their counterparts with other fertility histories.

When we analyze women and men separately, the impact of fertility history on retirement savings varies.

A smaller percentage of men who have children with one partner have no retirement savings and a larger percentage have $100,000 or more in retirement savings, compared to those with no children and those who have children with multiple partners.

Women who have children with a single partner are more likely to have no retirement savings than the women who have no children (38.2% compared to 34.2%). Among those who do have retirement savings, the women with no children do not differ from those who have children with a single partner.

Multiple Marriages and Children

How many times people marry is also related to your amount of retirement savings (Figure 4).

Among adults who have never married, those who have children with a single partner are more likely to have no retirement savings than those with no children (72.7% compared to 52.7%).

In addition, a larger percentage of never married adults who have children with multiple partners have no retirement savings than never married parents with a single partner (81.7% compared to 72.7%).

Among never married men, those who have children are more likely to have no retirement savings and less likely to have $100,000 or more saved than the men without children.

Men who have children with multiple partners are more likely to have no retirement savings than men who have children with a single partner, among those who ever married (Figure 5).

An association between fertility history and retirement savings can be seen across marital histories for women (Figure 6).

A smaller percentage of women with children from multiple partners have $100,000 or more in retirement savings regardless of how many times they have been married, compared with mothers with a single partner and women with no children who have been married the same number of times.

Among never married women and women married two or more times, a larger percentage of women without children have at least $100,000 in retirement savings compared to women with children with single or multiple partners.

Among women married once, a smaller percentage of women without children have no retirement savings compared to those with children with one or more partners.

As the U.S. population ages, examining differences in retirement savings within the context of family history sheds light on whether men and women are prepared for retirement.

The SIPP is a nationally representative longitudinal survey administered by the U.S. Census Bureau that provides comprehensive information on the dynamics of income, employment, household composition, and government program participation.

For more information, please visit the SIPP website. For technical documentation and more information about SIPP data quality, please visit the SIPP Technical Documentation website. The estimates presented here are subject to sampling and non-sampling error.

Brittany King is a survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch.

Brittany King is a survey statistician in the Census Bureau’s Fertility and Family Statistics Branch.

This article was filed under:


Children

Income and Poverty

Marriage and Divorce

Older and Aging

Population

Sex

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Those Who Married Once More Likely Than Others to Have Retirement Savings (2024)

FAQs

Those Who Married Once More Likely Than Others to Have Retirement Savings? ›

Among those married once: About 35% have no retirement savings, compared to 60% of those who never married and 40% of those who married more than once (Figure 2).

How much does the average married couple have saved for retirement? ›

Estimate Your Income

The average retirement savings for a person about to retire are approximately, $225,000, equal to $450,000 combined for a couple that has saved equally. Following the conservative rule of thumb and withdrawing 4% a year will provide this couple with another $1,500 monthly or $18,000 a year.

What is the golden rule of retirement savings? ›

The golden rule of saving 15% of your pre-tax income for retirement serves as a starting point, but individual circ*mstances and factors must also be considered.

Is it better to be married or single in retirement? ›

Research shows that single men and single women in the United States tend to retire later than married couples. One reason is simply financial. Single retirees typically don't have as much retirement savings as married retirees and therefore choose to work longer to catch up on retirement savings.

Do both spouses need to save for retirement? ›

It's up to you, as a couple, to decide how much money you'd both like to contribute for each of your 401(k)s. The amounts don't have to be the same – but if one (or both) of your companies offer a match for your contributions, the amount you contribute should at least meet the minimum for company matching.

Can a couple retire at 65 with 500k? ›

Yes, retiring on $500,000 along with Social Security benefits is feasible. Social Security could potentially add an average of $1,800 per month to your retirement income, making it more manageable to retire on $500,000.

Can a couple retire at 60 with 2 million? ›

Retiring with $2 million at age 60 is feasible, but it largely depends on your lifestyle and financial planning. It's crucial to evaluate the lifestyle you aspire to maintain during retirement and estimate the associated costs to determine if $2 million is adequate for your needs.

Can I retire with $300000 in savings? ›

How long will $300,000 last in retirement? If you have $300,000 and withdraw 4% per year, that number could last you roughly 25 years. Thats $12,000, which is not enough to live on its own unless you have additional income like Social Security and own your own place. Luckily, that $300,000 can go up if you invest it.

Can I retire with only $100 000 in savings? ›

There are a lot of ifs involved in just being 'OK' at that savings level, too. The new line going around that people are happy with a $100,000 retirement is a statistical myth just as sketchy as the perfect $1 million retirement — or the $1.46 million retirement, given inflation.

How much money do you need to retire with $200,000 a year income? ›

Considering an average annual return of 6% before taxes and the Federal Reserve's 2% inflation target, to guarantee $200,000 yearly (roughly $16,666 monthly) over 20 years, you'll need just over $2,844,000 in your retirement accounts. This figure grows higher the further you are from retirement.

Is it better financially to get married or stay single? ›

There are a number of financial benefits to marriage, ranging from lower insurance costs to higher mortgage eligibility. The marriage benefits are particularly pronounced for people who have widely different incomes.

Who lives longer married or single? ›

Married men and married women live, on average, two years longer than their unmarried counterparts. One reason for this longevity benefit is the influence of marital partners on healthy behaviors. Study after study shows that married people eat better and are less likely to smoke and drink excessively.

How much does the average retired couple live on per month? ›

It depends on your personal preferences, past accomplishments, and retirement plans. Some valuable perspective can be found in the 2022 US Census Bureau's median income for couples 65 and over: $76,490 annually or about $6,374 monthly.

What is a comfortable retirement income? ›

More? Financial planners often recommend replacing about 80% of your pre-retirement income to sustain the same lifestyle after you retire. This means that if you earn $100,000 per year, you'd aim for at least $80,000 of income (in today's dollars) in retirement.

How much money do you need to retire with $80,000 a year income? ›

So, "for an income of $80,000, you would need a retirement nest egg of about $2 million ($80,000 /0.04), assuming "a 5% return on investments, after taxes and inflation, no additional retirement income, such as Social Security, and a lifestyle similar to the one you would be living at the time you retire." This rule ...

How much money does a married couple need to retire at 62? ›

It's recommended that most couples save at least seven to eight times their combined annual income to retire comfortably.

Is $1,000,000 enough for a couple to retire? ›

Many people consider it a benchmark for a comfortable retirement, but it's not necessarily enough for everyone. In fact, as the cost of living rises, many retirees will need far more than $1 million to live out their golden years comfortably.

Can a couple retire on $50,000 a year? ›

That breaks down to monthly spending of about $6,080 per month. The largest monthly expense is typically housing, followed by transportation and food. If you're planning to live frugally in retirement, spending, say, under $50,000 a year may sound achievable, but it's not a realistic target for every couple.

What is the average retirement income for a 65 year old couple? ›

The ideal monthly retirement income for a couple differs for everyone. It depends on your personal preferences, past accomplishments, and retirement plans. Some valuable perspective can be found in the 2022 US Census Bureau's median income for couples 65 and over: $76,490 annually or about $6,374 monthly.

Is $5000 a month a good pension? ›

To maintain your lifestyle in retirement, most financial planners recommend aiming to replace 80% of your pre-retirement income. For example, if you earned $75,000 per year ($6,250 per month) before retirement, you should aim to have a post-retirement income of $60,000 per year ($5,000 per month).

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