South By North Strategies, Ltd.

Writing in The American Prospect, Theresa Ghilarducci  argues that the idea of a middle-class retirement is slipping away from most working Americans.

Even without further cuts, the normal Social Security retirement age is set to increase to 67 in 2022. Compared to where it was before the last major changes enacted in 1983, Social Security has already been cut close to 20 percent, in terms of how much wage income it typically replaces.
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The private pension part of our system is in even worse shape. Over half of workers have no pension plan. Of those who do, only 20 percent have traditional plans that provide a guaranteed benefit, while the other 80 percent have 401(k)-type plans that shift all the risks to the retiree. In 2009, the account balance for the average-income household with a 401(k) plan was only about $67,000. Even the oldest workers in the highest-earning households, of $100,000 annual income and over, have on average only about $173,000, which yields a lifetime monthly income of just $500.
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According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, less than half of American workers will have enough income to adequately maintain living standards into retirement. The risk of insufficient income in old age is higher for workers today than it was for their parents and grandparents.