The Color of Money
iors towards their longterm savings,” Macdonald said.
But the flip side of Fidelity’s report is the realization that not everyone is reaping the upside of the stock market. And this is an unsettling dynamic. Or should be, even if you were one of the many whose retirement accounts grew.
“Lower-income adults, as well as Hispanic and Asian Americans and adults younger than 30, are among the most likely to say they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut since the pandemic outbreak began,” the Pew Research Center reported in March.
This group also had to
take on debt or put off paying bills to make ends meet, according to Pew.
Pew found that 51% of adults in the workforce said the pandemic would make it harder for them to reach their long-term financial goals. This should concern us all because it will put a strain on the state and federal safety nets that were struggling to keep pace with the demand for assistance even before the pandemic.
The pandemic could accelerate shortfalls in the Social Security Trust Funds. When you’re worried about paying for necessities, retirement saving gets pushed down your list of priorities. This will in turn result in people relying even more on Social Security as the only source of retirement income.
Many people are profiting despite the pandemic. That’s not a criticism but an observation that behooves us all to do what we can to reduce the wealth gap.
My own retirement accounts ballooned, but I don’t feel like celebrating when so many others are suffering.
Readers can write to Michelle Singletary c/o The Washington Post, 1301 K St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20071. Her email address is michelle.singletary@ washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter (@SingletaryM) or Facebook (www.facebook. com/MichelleSingletary). Comments and questions are welcome, but due to the volume of mail, personal responses may not be possible. Please also note comments or questions may be used in a future column, with the writer’s name, unless a specific request to do otherwise is indicated.