--- description: Thirty-six percent of people in the U.S. have no retirement savings, according to a new survey. title: Over a third of Americans haven't saved anything for retirement image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8319345993afab07/69869fd935ba6fcc79c03716/471039635.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [finance](/tag/finance/) ## finance Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # More Than a Third of Americans Have No Retirement Savings by [Stephanie Burnett](/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2014 7:51 AM CUT  Money MoneyTrout—Getty Images by [Stephanie Burnett](/author/stephanie-burnett/) ## Stephanie Burnett Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 18, 2014 7:51 AM CUT More than a third of people in the United States have no retirement savings at all, according to [a new survey](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/08/18/zero-retirement-savings/14070167/ "undefined"). The survey, commissioned by Bankrate.com, found that 14% of Americans ages 65 and older are without a nest egg, _USA Today_ reports. For the 50-to-64 age group, the proportion is 26%, while 33% of those aged 30 to 49 have nothing put aside. In total, 36% of Americans haven’t put aside a dime for retirement. Perhaps unsurprisingly, young Americans are the least prepared, with 69% of the 18-to-29 age group having no retirement savings. “The key to a successful retirement is to [save early](https://time.com/nextadvisor/investing/retirement/how-much-to-save-for-retirement/ "undefined") and [aggressively](https://time.com/personal-finance/article/best-high-yield-savings-accounts/ "undefined"),” Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.com, told _USA Today_. Some Americans are heeding that advice. The same survey found that 32% of people ages 30 to 49 began saving for retirement in their 20s, while 16% started in their 30s. \[[_USA Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/2014/08/18/zero-retirement-savings/14070167/?utm%5Fsource=dlvr.it&utm%5Fmedium=twitter&dlvrit=206567 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/"},"headline":"More Than a Third of Americans Have No Retirement Savings","datePublished":"2014-08-18T07:51:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:42:53.405Z","description":"Perhaps unsurprisingly, young Americans are the least prepared","url":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/","keywords":["finance"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8319345993afab07/69869fd935ba6fcc79c03716/471039635.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Stephanie Burnett","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/stephanie-burnett/"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8319345993afab07/69869fd935ba6fcc79c03716/471039635.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"471039635","caption":"471039635","creditText":"Trout—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/finance/","name":"finance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/","name":"More Than a Third of Americans Have No Retirement Savings"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How Do I Choose 401(k) Investments?","description":"Financial planners explain how much to invest and how to balance stocks and bonds.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/OH3FUjBv/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-06-12T16:18:48.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/OH3FUjBv.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/","duration":"PT1M36S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3134247/americans-retirement-savings-bankrate-survey/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```