No ‘Magic’ in These 401(k) Retirement Numbers
Last week, a new report claimed to find a big jump in a so-called “magic” number for retirement, based on what survey respondents said they thought they’d need. As though they’d know. It garnered quite a bit of coverage , including an article in The Wall Street Journal (and a comment from none other than Teresa Ghilarducci). While the “magic” number of $1.46 million didn’t seem astronomical (Professor Ghilarducci even commented that people often OVER-estimate their needs), that number jumped dramatically from $1.27 million a year ago—something the authors attributed to concerns about inflation. There are many problems with reports like this—none of which the breathless reporting of the conclusions acknowledged: (1) It’s an average —while we get some breakdown on age brackets, we know nothing about their incomes, where they live, their health, etc. What someone needs (or thinks they need) living in New York City is (or should be) con...