Conversations about retirement readiness usually focus on portfolios–how much you’re saving, your investment mix, and whether you’ll accumulate assets sufficient to last a lifetime.

But those conversations are missing a bigger-picture question about retirement readiness: How are household balance sheets shaping up as families approach retirement?

A new study by the AARP Public Policy Institute provides answers. AARP researchers used highly authoritative Federal Reserve household survey data to create balance sheets showing average amounts of assets, debt, and net worth for the American middle class for young, middle-age, and older households.
The study quantifies what many of us know intuitively: The balance sheets of pre-retired Americans are a mess.

Learn more in my column this month at Morningstar.com.

Tags | debt, housing, net worth