THE UNSUSTAINABLE ECONOMY - PART 10147

Retirement savings gap widens between rich and poor

By Melanie Hicken  @melhicken September 18, 2014: 7:06 PM ET

In 2013, households in the lowest income bracket had a median savings balance of just $13,000, while those in the top income bracket had median savings of $452,000.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

When it comes to retirement savings, the gap between the rich and poor is growing dramatically.

Last year, the typical 55- to 64-year-old household had just $111,000 saved in their 401(k)s and IRAs, which would translate into just $500 a month in retirement income, according to a report from Boston College's Center for Retirement Research that analyzed recent Federal Reserve data.

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But when you break down the savings by income brackets, the numbers look even bleaker.
Households in the lowest income bracket -- those earning less than $39,000 a year -- had a median savings balance of just $13,000. Meanwhile, those in the top income bracket -- those earning $138,000 or more a year -- had a median of $452,000 saved.
And that's a gap that has widened significantly over the past decade.
America's wealthiest saw the value of their median retirement savings grow by 24% between 2004 and 2013, while low-income households couldn't even keep up with inflation as they watched their savings shrink by nearly 20%, according to the Federal Reserve's inflation-adjusted data.