Americans are Grossly Underprepared for Retirement
Americans believe in a well-documented path to retirement: work hard, save money (maybe using the 401(k) offered by your employer), and say goodbye to the daily grind in your early-to-mid 60s. MassMutual’s 2018 State of the American Family survey pegs the average age Americans plan to retire at 62, a full two years younger than 2013’s survey, with 47 percent of participants (a two percent increase) expressing confidence they could retire when they wanted to. But there’s a problem: despite optimism about retiring early, most people do not have the plan, nor the savings, to do so.
Planning retirement is of vital importance. MassMutual’s survey indicates that only 36 percent of participants had created a savings plan, with 24 of the 36 percent staying committed to it – figures that don’t bode well for a worry-free post-work life. It is well worth the time to map everything out using a retirement calculator or through some basic calculations.
The first step to creating a plan is evaluating life expectancy. Naturally, it’s very difficult to accurately predict this, but after taking health, lifestyle factors, family history, and more into account can help develop a rough estimate. Subtracting your ideal retirement age from perceived life expectancy shows how many years to save for.
Next, establish living expenses in retirement. While these can be ever-shifting, a ballpark figure is necessary – as is periodically reevaluating savings goals for accuracy. To get a rough estimate, take current monthly expenses, factor in expenses that might not be necessary in retirement (child-related, commute, down-sizing a home, etc.) and multiply by 12 to calculate a yearly savings goal. Multiply this figure by the total number of years to save for as calculated above, taking average yearly inflation of 3 percent into account.
You may even be entitled to some help – certain employers offer 401(k) matching. There are also Social Security benefits, determined via your 35 highest-earning years, which are accessible at 62 but typically kick in in full around 66 or 67 (and you can even delay benefits earlier for larger amounts later). Sign up for a My Social Security account to get an estimate of your eventual benefits, multiply by the number of retirement years, and subtract the resulting amount from the previously-calculated total for a better snapshot of your savings goal. Use that figure to determine a monthly savings amount, keeping in mind the benefits of compound interest (though it is helpful to estimate more conservatively and be pleasantly surprised than the alternative).
And don’t despair – there’s hope even if you are behind the eight ball on retirement savings. While saving for retirement earlier provides a greater margin for error (and means having the ability to contribute less per paycheck), you can make up for lost time by increasing short-term contributions. Catch-up contributions are also an option; worst case, you can push your retirement back to save more. Retirement is an attainable goal – if you don’t go in blind.
Looking for Fresh Investment Ideas? See How Algorithms and A.I. Can Help
Want to invest and/or diversify your portfolio but unsure where to start? Artificial Intelligence can help! Tickeron has developed user friendly Artificial Intelligence tools to help new and experienced investors generate investment ideas. Tickeron’s A.I. is capable of evaluating a portfolio and providing a “Diversification Score,” to tell the user how well-diversified their portfolio is. It can also generate investment ideas for a user’s 401(k) plan – even if you’re just getting started! The A.I. will give you ideas based on your risk tolerance, investment objectives, and the investment options available.
Tickeron’s new financial website is available to beginners, intermediate investors, and even experts and advisors. Explore tickeron.com today.
Contributor
Sergey Savastiouk, Ph.D. has a degree in Applied Mathematics from Moscow University and has extensive experience as an entrepreneur, investor, manager, and mathematician. His professional expertise is in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, system and pattern analysis, and software and hardware system integration. He has served as the CEO of several hi-tech start-up companies and nonprofit organizations, which has given him proven capabilities in business strategy for high-tech start-up companies, market assessment, company formation, team building, product development, marketing, and sales. He has published numerous articles in journals and magazines on related fields. As a retail investor, he spent 15 years developing his proprietary trading and quantitative algorithms (now Tickeron’s A.I.), which brought him significant returns in trading the stock market. His current work and goal in founding Tickeron is to bring professional, sophisticated stock market analysis capabilities to retail investors via an easy-to-use interface.
SPY in downward trend: price may drop because broke its higher Bollinger Band on August 04, 2026
SPY broke above its upper Bollinger Band on August 04, 2026. This could be a sign that the stock is set to drop as the stock moves back below the upper band and toward the middle band. You may want to consider selling the stock or exploring put options. The A.I.dvisor looked at 40 similar instances where the stock broke above the upper band. In of the 40 cases the stock fell afterwards. This puts the odds of success at .
Technical Analysis (Indicators)
Bearish Trend Analysis
The 10-day RSI Indicator for SPY moved out of overbought territory on August 14, 2026. This could be a bearish sign for the stock. Traders may want to consider selling the stock or buying put options. Tickeron's A.I.dvisor looked at 46 similar instances where the indicator moved out of overbought territory. In of the 46 cases, the stock moved lower in the following days. This puts the odds of a move lower at .
The Momentum Indicator moved below the 0 level on August 18, 2026. You may want to consider selling the stock, shorting the stock, or exploring put options on SPY as a result. In of 76 cases where the Momentum Indicator fell below 0, the stock fell further within the subsequent month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
The Moving Average Convergence Divergence Histogram (MACD) for SPY turned negative on August 20, 2026. This could be a sign that the stock is set to turn lower in the coming weeks. Traders may want to sell the stock or buy put options. Tickeron's A.I.dvisor looked at 52 similar instances when the indicator turned negative. In of the 52 cases the stock turned lower in the days that followed. This puts the odds of success at .
Following a 3-day decline, the stock is projected to fall further. Considering past instances where SPY declined for three days, the price rose further in of 62 cases within the following month. The odds of a continued downward trend are .
Bullish Trend Analysis
The Stochastic Oscillator demonstrated that the ticker has stayed in the oversold zone for 2 days, which means it's wise to expect a price bounce in the near future.
SPY moved above its 50-day moving average on July 31, 2026 date and that indicates a change from a downward trend to an upward trend.
The 10-day moving average for SPY crossed bullishly above the 50-day moving average on August 05, 2026. This indicates that the trend has shifted higher and could be considered a buy signal. In of 15 past instances when the 10-day crossed above the 50-day, the stock continued to move higher over the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Following a 3-day Advance, the price is estimated to grow further. Considering data from situations where SPY advanced for three days, in of 362 cases, the price rose further within the following month. The odds of a continued upward trend are .
Notable companies
Industry description
Market Cap
High and low price notable news
Volume
Fundamental Analysis Ratings
The average fundamental analysis ratings, where 1 is best and 100 is worst, are as follows
Advertisement
General Information
Category LargeBlend
Advertisement