I took into consideration the average salary in the U.S. which is around $27,000 and calculated an average annual salary increase of 4% (which is high), over 30 years and if we did save an additional 1% towards retirement we’d end up with around $72,000 for our efforts; this includes a healthy 8% return on the money we’d set aside.
I’m certainly not saying to save and/or invest all the money you can because the fact is we are a debtor nation so most people won’t come close to having the money they want for the lifestyle they envision in retirement. A lot of this is due to bad choices in spending habits but let’s face it, when it comes to finances, a lot of people aren’t that competent; it’s just not in a lot of our wheelhouses.
So I don’t look at companies like Prudential in a negative light as far as the services they provide because I strongly believe in financial advice but I don’t like how they mislead people in their commercials because that extra 1% they’re touting will lead to a lot of disappointed people.