(WJAR) — For years, Americans have been worried that Social Security will eventually run out.
Today, those fears are stronger than ever.
A new survey from DepositAccounts finds 59% of Americans now fear Social Security won’t be there by the time they retire.
Those fears are especially pronounced among Gen X-ers, who are nearing retirement age.
“Our report found that almost 60% of people are worried that Social Security won’t be there when they need it, and the truth is that Social Security almost certainly isn’t going away together,” says Matt Schulz, Chief Consumer Finance Analyst for LendingTree. “Whether you’ll end up getting the full benefits that you would today later on is certainly an open question.”
If you are worried about reduced Social Security benefits, contributing more toward a retirement account makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately, this same survey found that 38% of Americans are actually reducing their retirement contributions because of the economy.
“The truth is that tough times require sacrifice and tough decisions, and if the choice is between keeping the lights on and keeping food on the table or putting a little extra away for retirement, you can’t really blame somebody for dialing back their retirement contributions,” explains Schulz.
So what can you do when money is tight, but you still want to set aside some cash for retirement?
Schulz says, make a budget.
“You can’t really make a meaningful plan to knock down your debt or boost your savings if you don’t understand how much is coming in and going out of your household each month,” he explains.
He says it also helps to automate your retirement contributions, because it’s much easier to save 5% of your paycheck when it isn’t hitting your checking account first.
If your company offers a 401K match, Schulz says do whatever you can to get that match.