Many older millennials are over $400K short of key retirement targets for their 40s

For many older millennials—now in their 40s—it’s time to play catch-up.According to a report by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, the median retirement savings for this group sits at $73,000.That’s $427,000 less than the $500,000 target most 40-somethings believe they’ll need and nowhere near the $1.6 million experts actually recommend. “Unfortunately, I see this shortfall often with my millennial clients.

They came of age during the Great Recession and are now dealing with rising housing costs, inflation, and higher interest rates during some of their prime saving years.The focus is to make it through the month, not maximize retirement contributions,” says Elias Friedman, founder and senior wealth adviser at Kadima Wealth in Schaumburg, IL. If you’re one of the 40-somethings with this wide gap, the clock is ticking.

The good news is it’s still possible to meet your retirement goals. All it takes is some dedication, persistence, and creativity. Each generation has to work through a complex set of circumstances.For some, it was financial hardship, war, or disease.For millennials in their 40s, it’s the cost of housing.“Housing used to be the thing that built middle-class wealth.

However, when mortgages and property taxes rise faster than stagnant wages, things get tough,” says Jeromee Johnson, president and CTO of Tellus in Kansas City, KS.The cost to maintain a home keeps increasing, too. “The price of hot water tanks and kitchen remodels, for example, have soared.Even homeowner’s insurance continues to climb, roughly double the rate of inflation, especially in disaster-prone areas,” explains Steven Rogé, chief investment officer and CEO of R.W.

Rogé & Company in Beverly, MA.Johnson notes that retirement contributions—unlike mortgage payments and other expenses—don’t have a due date or late fee, so the urgency to make them isn’t always there. “Nobody repossesses a 401(k) for skipping a yea...