Based upon numerous studies and recounting of personal experiences, the question is not "Are people saving enough for retirement?" but "How little are they saving, and how big is the deficit between what is being saved and what is required to maintain a reasonable standard of living in one's retirement years?"

Despite the market's asset growth since the 2008 crash, studies in 2013 and 2015 by the National Institute on Retirement Security had some sobering findings regarding shortfalls in retirement savings (where "enough" savings is considered as having assets equal to 8 to 11 times annual income).

These were the key findings:

1.  more than 40 million working households (45%) have no retirement assets

2. 80% of US households have savings less than one times their annual income

3. only 55% of US private sector employees have access to workplace retirement benefits

4. there are significant differences in retirement savings and wealth across demographics (age, sex, ethnicity)

Indeed, some commentators are calling these trends a "national crisis."