Depending on your age, geography, and conversational context, that “title question” can have several different meanings. Back in the day (when we all were much younger), getting “a number” was an extremely important pastime. 😊 However today, the context of this specific question refers to your Retirement Score (which is a calculation of how long your money will last in retirement – down to the year and month). Almost half of ITCU members are at least 50 years of age (or older), but the majority do not know their number (or score) and (when asked) have no idea if they will outlive their current saved and Social Security-supported income. No one wants to outlive their income!

According to several studies commissioned over the last few years, almost 7 in 10 citizens over the age of 50 are more worried about running out of money than death. Regardless of political party affiliation or views about personal financial responsibility, most Americans understand that the large number of retirement age “baby boomers” was going to strain Social Security to the breaking point (and that was before the negative effects of pandemic-driven supply-side inflation, changing U.S. tax policy, and the resulting increase in U.S. debt propelled by those two circumstances).

Contemplating the idea of “running out of money in retirement” is something most 20-year-olds don’t spend a lot of time thinking about because most have the majority of their “wage-earning years” in front of them (and let’s face it, most think they’ll live past 100). However, it is highly likely that most 50-year-old+ Americans believe the majority of their “work years” are in their rear-view mirrors, which is why the thought of smaller earnings and nest eggs is so concerning. Nevertheless, you don’t have to “go it alone” or live without answers. For a limited time, ITCU will provide “free access to credit union members” to help you identify solutions and obtain your number (i.e., the age of which your income stream is likely to run out placing you below the poverty line)!

ITCU’s Silvur-Retirement Simplified offers you patent-pending financial tools, including our exclusive Retirement Score, along with timely educational resources that reflect the latest changes in Social Security, Medicare, Retirement Savings Accounts, and more. Our Social Security, Medicare, and cost of living tools allow you to run different scenarios to see how your financial savings and spending choices impact your retirement plans based on where you live, when you retire, and much more (including but not limited to the financial lifestyle choices you choose to make). You will be able to make informed and educated scenario adjustments that can increase your score (or age) and financial well-being. And at your fingertips, you can finally get answers to all your retirement questions, even the ones you might not have known to ask (from downsizing to retirement taxes) in one place while learning how to make retirement- and spending-related decisions with your personalized goals in mind.

Just go to our Retirement Simplified page, create your “free account” and follow the prompts to receive information and a “Retirement Score Number” that can potentially help you lower your anxiety and financial stress (because knowing is a lot better than not knowing).