It is of no surprise that the Great Recession had an impact on the retirement plans of many Americans. What is a shock though is just by how much. A component in the Federal Reserve’s Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households quantifies the number: roughly 40% of people 45 and over who were not yet retired have pushed back their retirement plans. 
 
 This is no simple report to ignore, and this can affect the future of many things in America. It can affect Social Security, it can affect the financial markets via contributions and withdrawals of retirement funds, and it can affect the future workforce demographics in that older workers may simply not be removing themselves from the workforce, making it impossible for younger workers to graduate or move up. 
 
 In how much (or any) contribution is being made, some 54% of those with incomes under $25,000 reported having no retirement savings or pension. This compares with only 10% of those earning $100,000 or more. 
 
 Roughly one-third reported that they plan to retire at the same age as they had planned prior to 2008, and 36% now plan to retire at a later age than before the recession. The age breakdown is where the data gets skewed: some 41% of adults aged 45 and over now plan to retire at a later date than they had before 2008, and only 5% who gave at least some thought to retirement now plan to retire sooner than they had prior to 2008. 
 
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 Among those aged 55 to 64 who had not yet retired, only 18% plan to follow the traditional retirement model of working full time until a set date and then stop working altogether. Some 24% expected to keep working as long as possible, and another 18% expected to retire and then work a part-time job. Another 9% said that they expect to retire and then become self-employed. 
 
 Another retirement scare is a tale you have heard, but this quantifies it. The Fed showed that although the long-term shift from defined-benefit to defined-contribution (from pension to 401(K) and IRA) plans places significant responsibilities on individuals to plan for their own retirement, only about one-fourth appear to be actively doing so. 
 
 Here is the true issue affecting many: they are clueless about their retirement! When asked how they and their spouse will pay for expenses in retirement, a whopping one-fourth of all respondents (and even 14% of those aged 45 or more) chose the answer “I don’t know.” 
 
 I don’t know. This is a scarier notion than improper planning — it is not having a plan at all. 
 
 We have outlined the full Fed household survey as well. ||||| One in five people who are near retirement age have zero money saved. 
 
 Yes, you read that correctly. 
 
 The sobering statistic was one of many released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday as part of its report on the economic well-being of U.S. households, which surveyed more than 4,100 people online last year between mid-September and early October. 
 
 The study offered a stark reminder that as more Americans are made responsible for their own retirement, most are not saving nearly enough. Overall, 31 percent of people said they have zero money saved for retirement and do not have a pension. That included 19 percent of people between the ages of 55 and 64, or those closest to retirement age. 
 
 What's going on here? A lot of people said they rarely thought about retirement, at least not until it was too late. About 41 percent of people ages 18 to 29 said they never thought about retirement planning, a number that understandably declined to 20 percent for people above the age of 60. 
 
 But researchers said the dismal saving rates weren't fully explained by lack of caring. They also cited a combination of low resources and poor awareness: 
 
 The lack of preparedness is not signaled by a lack of planning alone. Many respondents, particularly those with limited incomes, indicated that they simply have few or no financial resources available for retirement. 
 
 For many people, particularly those working part time or earning low wages, the biggest obstacle to a steady retirement savings plan is access. About three-fourths of private sector workers with full-time jobs have access to a retirement plan, but that number drops to 37 percent for part-time workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
 
 So, what did workers say about how they expected to cover expenses in retirement? The biggest resource people planned to rely on, whether they had savings or not, was Social Security, which was cited by roughly 45 percent of respondents. 
 
 A lot of people said they would just keep working: About one-third of the people surveyed said they delayed their retirement date after the financial crisis. Among the people closest to retirement, those ages 45 and over, that number increases to 41 percent. 
 
 Only 18 percent of people said they envisioned having a traditional retirement where they would work full time until a particular date and then stop working completely. About a quarter of respondents said they plan to work as long as possible. And another 18 percent said they expect to take on a part-time job. 
 
 Not surprisingly, the most common savings vehicle was a defined contribution plan such as a 401(k) or 403(b), used by 44 percent of the people surveyed. That compares to 18 percent of people who said they were eligible to receive a pension from their employers. 
 
 (Correction: This story has been updated to correct that three-fourths of private sector workers with full-time jobs have access to a retirement plan.) 
 
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 About 100 million Americans are now using credit unions. Should you join them? ||||| New data from the Federal Reserve highlight how many Americans continue to struggle financially more than five years after the end of the Great Recession. 
 
 As of September 2013, when the central bank conducted the poll, a quarter of families said they were "just getting by," while an additional 13 percent were struggling to make ends meet. 
 
 Asked to compare their current financial situation with how they were faring five years ago, as the housing crash was wreaking havoc on the economy, 34 percent of respondents said they were doing "somewhat or much worse" than in 2008. The same percentage reported essentially treading water, while 30 percent said they were doing better. 
 
 "Given that respondents were being asked to compare their incomes to 2008, when the United States was in the depths of the financial crisis, the fact that over two-thirds of respondents reported being the same or worse off financially highlights the uneven nature of the recovery," the Federal Reserve said in the report. 
 
 The Fed found that more than 60 percent of U.S. families were either "doing OK" or "living comfortably." 
 
 The survey of 4,100 households was conducted between September and October of last year. Since then, economic growth has been inconsistent. The nation's GDP shrank 2.1 percent over the first three months of the year, when harsh winter weather slowed consumer spending and dented the housing sector. But GDP surged to an annualized 4 percent between April and June, while the job market has strengthened in recent months. 
 
 Americans' biggest financial concerns centered on three issues, the Fed found: retirement, education and jobs. And even with the economy seemingly on the mend, other findings from the Fed survey highlight the financial challenges many Americans still face. 
 
 For instance, a third of households who had applied for credit in the previous 12 months reported being turned down or getting less than they asked for. Meanwhile, 10 percent of households said their income fluctuates significantly from month to month, largely because of an irregular work schedule or because respondents are unemployed. 
 
 Wage growth has been soft throughout the recovery, which officially began in June 2009. That has strained household budgets and damped consumer spending, slowing the pace of recovery. Average hourly earnings for all private nonfarm employees was essentially flat last month. Wages are now growing at an annualized rate of only 2 percent, barely keeping earners ahead of inflation this year. 
 
 Other key findings from the Fed survey:
– Here's a scary stat for you, spotted by the Washington Post: About 1 in 5 people nearing retirement have no money for retirement. It comes from a newly released survey by the Federal Reserve of about 4,100 Americans. In total, 31% had saved no money for retirement, though the figure improved to 19% for those ages 55 to 64. What's more, 20% of people over 60 said retirement planning hadn't even crossed their minds, which probably explains why 24/7 Wall St. calls this "the next crisis." Another depressing find: Some 40% of non-retirees 45 and over have had to delay their pre-recession retirement plans. The problem doesn't just boil down to poor planning. "Many respondents, particularly those with limited incomes, indicated that they simply have few or no financial resources available for retirement," researchers say. In particular, a quarter of respondents said they were "just getting by," while 13% said they were struggling, CBS News reports. About 45% of people said they planned to rely on Social Security to pay the bills in retirement, while 25% gave the following answer: "I don't know." Just as many said they expected to work as long as they could, and another 18% planned to get a part-time job after retiring.