Americans' wage and retirement challenges remain great, though, and the new saving surveys, which began trickling out this week, offer insights into them if you read between the lines. When America Saves Week officially begins on Feb. 23, the Consumer Federation of America will release its own study of our savings habits. It says the new data will include "encouraging news." Phew.

Here's what they'll be telling you, and what you should know. 1. Small savings increases can produce big results, but long-term projections are tricky 

In a release Thursday, Fidelity Investments encouraged people to save more by showing how a 1 percent increase in savings can compound tax-deferred over time. For a household making $60,000, saving an extra 1 percent means putting away a mere $50 a month, the company notes. Fidelity calculates that for a 35-year-old who gets an inflation-adjusted annual raise of 1.5 percent every year, and who keeps saving in a tax-deferred account until age 67, it could mean an added $270 a month in retirement income, or $3,210 annually. The calculation is based on pretax money and assumes a return of 7 percent. Saving a little more as early as possible in a career is a great idea, and can make a big difference.

What the calculation doesn't show is how inflation can eat away at the purchasing power of that far-off extra $270 a month in retirement income. At the long-term inflation rate of 3.22 percent, the buying power of $270 today would shrink to about $122 in 25 years.  

In any case, saving more in 2015 is a moot point for 63 percent of the 1,039 working adults Fidelity surveyed. Those people said they weren't increasing the amount they saved for retirement in 2015 because "I can't afford to save more than I am." (On a brighter note — assuming they have a realistic idea of how much money they need — 29 percent said they believed they were saving enough for retirement already.)

2. It's a luxury to worry about medical bills

A Bankrate.com survey of 4,200 people found that the biggest retirement worry, preoccupying 28 percent of respondents, was that medical costs would be too high in old age. A deeper dive into the survey results by Bloomberg View's Christopher Flavelle found a telling divide in views.

The one group that didn't cite medical costs as its biggest concern about retirement: those earning less than $30,000. For that group, too much debt was the greatest worry. Flavelle notes that the group "was also twice as likely as the wealthiest respondents to say they worried that their daily expenses would be more than they could afford."

3. Long-lived single women should reserve their ice floe now

For married Baby Boomers, a report from the Employee Benefit Research Institute offers something that sounds almost like good news: a projected retirement shortfall of just $19,304 per individual. That's the amount of income those boomers would be short in terms of covering average expenses and uninsured health care costs at age 65 or older. If that doesn't seem like cheery news, consider that for single men the number jumps to $33,778. For single women, it's a deficit of $62,734.

Actually, all of those numbers are too cheery, since they include people who aren't facing shortfalls at all. (They exist!) Narrowing the focus to only those facing a projected retirement savings shortfall sends the deficit for the married early boomers to $71,299 per person, to $93,576 for single men andto $104,821 for single women.

The biggest factor affecting those numbers: the risks of a very long life, and the nursing home and home health care costs that brings. Ignore that huge financial toll and the shortfalls decrease by an average of 74 percent.

So while working hard to save enough for retirement, try to stay in good health. For many Americans, it may be the easiest way to afford a comfortable retirement.