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I’d acted like one of those people who win the lottery and squander it on houses, cars, family, and Caribbean cruises. But I hadn’t won the lottery; I’d fallen under the spell of magical thinking. In my opinion, I didn’t squander the money, either; I just spent it a little too enthusiastically … There’d always been enough money.

I assumed there always would be.  

William McPherson in “Failing” (2014)

By 2050, there will be, for the first time, more older persons (age 60+) than children under the age of 15 worldwide and the number of older persons is projected to more than double from 900 million currently to nearly 2 billion. The older population itself is also ageing. The group of persons aged 80 or over, which currently accounts for 14 per cent of older persons, will grow to 21 per cent in 2050.

Even in the U.S., not all areas are aging at the same pace. California estimates that its population will have increased by 41 percent in the half-century between 2010 and 2060 but that seniors aged 65 to 74 will rise by far more – 135 percent. However this is dwarfed by the increase in the super-seniors. Folks aged 75 and older are expected to increase by 253 percent over the course of the same 50 years.

The provisions we store away in our money boats will help us through periods of no fishing or no other food along the way. Yet four out of five Americans are worried that their provisions are not sufficient. In a 2009 survey of 800 Americans conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, they found that the single most commonly used definition of a secure retirement was simply having enough money to pay the bills and fulfill basic needs, such as food, housing and utilities. A full third (34 percent) focused just on these simple requirements. The pleasures of enjoying life, living happily and having fun were cited by only three percent of all those canvassed.

There is good reason to worry.

Bloomberg News forecast that if current trends continue, the U.S. will soon face a silver tsunami with poverty rates among senior citizens last seen only in the Great Depression of the 1930s.

In February 2017, Bloomberg News warned that the U.S. could soon face a silver tsunami with poverty rates among senior citizens last seen only in the Great Depression of the 1930s. Bloomberg News estimated that of the 18 million workers between the ages of 55 and 64 in 2012, more than 20 percent (4 million) would be considered as poor or near-poor by the age of 65. This includes an estimated 2.6 million whose working income put them into the ranks of the middle class prior to retirement.

Only one in three Americans feels ready for retirement from the workforce.

Most Americans feel less than ready for retirement from the workforce. A 2010 survey by the Allianz Insurance Group found that two out of three of us feel financially unprepared for retirement. Of the 44 to 75-year-olds canvassed by the survey, just one third (34 percent) felt they were doing well – 20 percent said that they are living the American Dream and are ready to make adjustments in their spending as necessary and 14 percent considered themselves savvy, follow stock markets and are confident in their ability to take financial risks.

The rest of us feel as we are tacking against strong winds. One in four (27 percent) consider themselves resilient and toughing it out, adapting to the financial ups and downs and prepared to cut back on expenses during retirement, as necessary. However, four of out ten (39 percent) say that either they are overwhelmed and set in survival mode or are distracted and just living day-to-day. For this group, any minor financial turbulence is likely to send them overboard with no life boat.

It’s not the same across all age groups. A 2017 survey of full-time workers by PriceWaterhouseCoopers found that those now in their 50s and older see financial fitness as an issue of being able to make choices about ways of enjoying life. Indeed, for the baby-boomers (now aged 57 to 74 years), the dominant theme was having the financial freedom to make choices to enjoy life to the maximum. However, for the Gen-Xers (now aged 36 to 56 years), financial fitness meant being free of debt and having enough reserves and savings to avoid worrying about unexpected expenses, such as a sudden car repair bill. Millennials (aged 21 to 35 years) took a still more immediate approach. For them, financial health was defined as simply not being stressed about their own finances.

Yet even among the middle generations, money issues prevail. A 2010 online survey of 1,642 U.S. adults aged 44 to 75 conducted for Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America found that three-quarters (77 percent) of the 44 to 49-year olds feared “outliving their money” but only one-quarter (23%) worried about death. For those survey respondents who were married with dependents, the percentage concerned about running out of money rose to 82 percent.