The United States, like South Korea, has a rapidly aging population. While the US offers a national Social Security program, which most older Americans who have worked will receive, it is often not enough to fully fund one’s daily living expenses.

According to the Social Security Administration, the formula for calculating the amount one will receive is based on the “average indexed monthly earnings,” which includes up to the 35 best years of earnings. In practical terms, this means that the minimum a low-wage worker will receive is just over $1,000, while the maximum is just over $4,000 for someone retiring around 70 years of age, after the full retirement age of around 67, depending on one’s birth year. Though workers and their employers contribute to the system, it is simply not enough to cover the cost. According to The Urban Institute, as of 2025, Social Security payments total $1.7 trillion, just over one-fifth of the total US budget.

I’m old enough to think daily about my retirement, although I’ve probably done so since my 20s. As such, I’ve been watching an interesting genre of YouTube content related to retirement planning — which involves not only saving, but also investing, tax and estate planning, and calculating one’s future expenses. Of course, the biggest variable is your life expectancy, but that is unknown. While it’s not surprising that a plethora of personal financial professionals post videos that they hope will lead viewers to hire them for their services (many of these firms charge 1 to 2 percent of your investable net worth annually), there is another subgenre of YouTube channels that simply share what their lives are like. Among these are people who offer detailed accounts of their income, net worth, and expenses.

I found these to be interesting and curious. Americans, unlike some people from other countries, are unaccustomed to talking about money, especially one’s income and net worth. In my profession, salaries for public universities are public, but for places like Yale, they are not. It is taboo to share this information, and at my husband’s previous place of employment, one could be fired for sharing this information with co-workers. Even with my closest family members and friends, I do not divulge my financial information. So, imagine my surprise to see others posting detailed information about their finances on social media.

Most of these individuals are not multimillionaires. Many have savings of about $200,000 to $500,000, which is more than the typical American, but using the well-known “4 percent rule” of withdrawal, it’s an amount that generates $8,000 to $20,000 per year. The federal poverty level for a 2-person household in the US in 2026 is $21,960. Of course, they are also dependent on their Social Security, but this is not available until age 62. There are incremental increases the longer you wait past 62 and up to 70. Americans have to pay quite a bit for health insurance before reaching age 65 — even after, it’s not free.

This means that for these content creators, they must budget quite precisely. Some of them are counting their grocery bills to the dollar. Still, they present themselves as calm and happy and assure the viewer (and themselves) that it is manageable. Part of what motivates them to become content creators is that a successful channel might provide an additional stream of income, similar to a part-time job.

How do they compare with the typical American? Fifty-four percent of American households have no retirement savings, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances, collected by the Federal Reserve. Kiplinger reports that this varies by age. For 55- to 64-year-olds, the median retirement savings is $115,000, while the average (mean) savings amount is $313,220. The median value is what you find at the midpoint of all values, while the average is the total value divided by the number of people. When the number of individuals with very high values is included, the mean will be higher than the median. The range of savings for Americans and their viewers varies widely, and you can see it in the comments where some call them “very wealthy” or that they are “cutting it close.”

What is the ideal number to which Americans aspire? A survey by the 2025 Planning & Progress Study by Northwestern Mutual found the number to be $1.26 million. This amount would generate about $50,000. This amount, along with a typical Social Security benefit, brings the hypothetical household to the median household income of $83,000 in 2024.

My husband and I regularly receive invitations for a free dinner just to listen to a financial planner. I have no interest in hearing a sales pitch, but I have to admit that I enjoy watching strangers on YouTube share their expenses. They are not asking me for 1 to 2 percent of my savings, and I sometimes learn about a sale on toothpaste that month!

Grace Kao

Grace Kao is an IBM professor of sociology and professor of ethnicity, race and migration at Yale University. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. — Ed.


khnews@heraldcorp.com