Thinking of retiring? Better hope you're not among the more than 50 percent of U.S. households that haven't managed to squirrel away enough to do so — or that your financial situation deteriorates and endangers your plans.
While that assessment may be contested by some as an exaggeration, a new report from the liberal think tank Center for American Progress says it's no more than a "middle-of-the-road" estimate based on its review of studies from a range of government, academic and private-sector groups.
CAP researchers added that even the most optimistic of the studies it examined found that almost a quarter of retirees will run out of money.
And the situation is only going to get worse, CAP said. Federal Reserve data indicate that approximately 31 percent of Americans have no retirement savings and no access to defined benefit plans, including 19 percent of people aged 55-64.
Researchers also found that, of the 65 percent of workers in the private sector who have access to a retirement plan at work, just 48 percent actually participated in that plan in 2014.