With recent bank failures roiling the stock market, fears of national economic instability have been stoked once again—and it's not as if people weren't worried before, particularly those nearing retirement age. A recent report from online real estate brokerage Clever disclosed that retiring comfortably in 2023 seems like even more of a pipe dream than it did a year ago, thanks to a multitude of factors like the COVID-19 pandemic, rising inflation, and a general misunderstanding of what it takes to save for retirement on the part of U.S. workers.

"Faced with rising prices and stock market setbacks, the average retiree has $21,000 less in savings than they had at the start of 2022 — dropping from $191,659 to $170,726. What's more, the share of retirees with nothing saved jumped from 30% to 37%," wrote Clever's Matt Brannon on the company blog.

In spite of such daunting statistics, members of every generation intend to retire—some later than others. Northwestern Mutual's 2022 Planning and Progress Study found that the average retirement target for boomers is 71, while Gen Xers plan to call it a day at age 65. Millennials are expecting to retire at 61, while ever-optimistic Gen Zers hope to ride off into the sunset at age 59.