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David Kirsch, 64, fears he won’t have enough money to retire comfortably in a few years.
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He is one of 30 million Americans known as “Peak Boomers,” a group born between 1959 and 1964.
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Many of these baby boomers are worried that they won’t have enough to stop working and cover their expenses.
David Kirsch hopes to retire at 70.
He is 64 years old and his dream is to buy a used sailboat, sell most of his possessions and spend his golden years traveling the Caribbean and South America.
But Kirsch — a resident of Hill, New Hampshire — feels like his sailboat is drifting further and further away. He has an IT job and earns $64,805 a year, according to documents seen by Business Insider. He said he maintains IRA accounts and contributes money to his 401(k) account, but is still not sure if he has saved enough to retire.
Kirsch hopes to start collecting Social Security checks in a few years, just before his 67th birthday. That extra money would allow him to put more of his professional income into his retirement account in the final years of his career, he said.
“My biggest fear is standing at the door of Walmart at 75 years old and greeting people coming in,” he told BI.
Kirsch is not alone. He is one of 30 million Americans known as “Peak Boomer”, a group of baby boomers born between 1959 and 1964 who will turn 65 this year and are nearing retirement. However, many of these boomers are concerned that they do not have enough money to completely stop working and cover their living expenses.
The Census Bureau’s most recent population survey found that more than half of Americans are over 65 years old have an annual income of $30,000 or less. And according to an April report from retirement research firm Alliance Lifetime Income’s Retirement Income Institute, 52.5% of baby boomers have assets of $250,000 or less.
For many, Social Security will not be enough to fill the gaps. As of March 2024, the Social Security Administration reported that the average monthly check sent to recipients is $1,774.83. And if the legislature doesn’t intervene, the US Social Security Fund will set to dry out until the end of the 2030s.
This group of baby boomers is feeling the impact of the United States’ transition from an employer-sponsored retirement system to an employee-sponsored 401(k) system in the 1980s.
Even with aggressive savings, he isn’t sure about the future
Kirsch’s fear of retirement fluctuated throughout his career. He has experienced some periods of unemployment that made it difficult to save money, and his previous employers did not always offer retirement benefits. He has been in his current job for 12 years and is now making “very aggressive” pension contributions to achieve his goals, he said.
He said his biggest expenses right now are his car payment, gas money and housing and utility costs. Kirsch is in good health, but worries about being able to afford medical care if that changes.
He also said he was unsure whether he would be able to work again after retirement because of discrimination in hiring among older people.
“If I’m alone, inferior, need money, in my 70s and have health problems – then life will suck, that’s my fear,” Kirsch said.
Kirsch wants more people to understand that some older people are unable to adequately prepare for retirement due to their life circumstances. He also wants federal safety net programs for affordable housing and health care to not wait for people to reach “critical status” and become “destitute” before providing assistance.
Although he hasn’t given up on his dream of owning a sailboat, Kirsch said he’s worried about having enough to live comfortably in a decade. He often tells his young adult son to consider early retirement.
“Start saving and do it as aggressively as possible,” he said. “And if you can’t be aggressive, you’ll still save some money.”
Are you worried about being financially prepared for retirement? How do you prepare? Share your story with this reporter at [email protected].
Read the original article on Business Insider