In a perfect world, the perfect retirement is where life begins. But for people like Debra Leigh Scott, there's the very bleak possibility that retirement is where life might end. "Suicide is my retirement plan," Scott, a 60-year-old adjunct professor, said in an interview with Vitae. "Unless you have a spouse or partner, you're looking at dire poverty in old age. In addition to poverty, you're looking at getting no additional work because of your age, or you're looking at dropping dead in the classroom." View all Courses Scott, a divorced mother of two grown children, has been teaching for over a quarter century but never received the tenured position she hoped for. After years of financial struggles -- including the loss of a home -- she has no money saved for retirement. Fewer Americans than ever before are adequately prepared financially to retire. In a survey this year by the Employee Benefit Research Institute and Greenwald & Associates, 28 percent said they have less than $1,000 in savings and investments poised for retirement. A 2014 Federal Reserve survey paints a more discouraging picture: 31 percent of non-retired respondents have zero retirement savings -- 19 percent of them ages 55 to 64. Scott's story is a real-life reminder that paints a painful portrait most people would rather avoid. With their golden years well ahead of them, many people assume there will be enough money stored up to retire without a hitch. And they don't even want to think about considering the alternative. But for many adults behind on retirement savings, they might be unaware of the realities of retiring without enough money in the bank.
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