Also on the good news side is the fact that 68 percent of non-retired respondents saved at least a portion of their income in the prior year. But the flip side of that is that 31 percent of non-retired respondents said they have no retirement savings or pension at all, including 27 percent of non-retired respondents aged 60 or older. That 31 percent, by the way, is unchanged from 2014 — so despite apparent improvement in finances, people still aren’t saving for when the job goes away.

That could have something to do with the fact that 32 percent of adults report variation in their income from month to month; 43 percent report that their monthly expenses vary. And 42 percent of those with volatile incomes or expenses said they’ve sometimes struggled to pay their bills thanks to this volatility.

But then there’s the question of employment; while nearly 90 percent of employed respondents age 45 or older have retirement savings, less than a third of those who are out of work due to a disability do. Since 13 percent of non-retired respondents ages 45 to 59 and 20 percent of non-retired respondents age 60 or older report that they are out of work due to a disability, they make up a sizable number of respondents without savings who are approaching retirement age.

People with lower incomes and members of racial and ethnic minorities are particularly handicapped when it comes to retirement savings, with 40 percent of non-Hispanic black respondents and 43 percent of Hispanic respondents having no retirement savings, compared to 26 percent of non-Hispanic white respondents.

Income-wise, 94 percent of respondents with a family income over $100,000 have at least some retirement savings, and 82 percent of those making between $40,000 and $100,000 per year have some retirement savings. But only 44 percent of respondents making under $40,000 per year have any retirement savings.

Even among those who are saving for retirement, the picture isn’t as bright as it could be. Almost half — 49 percent — of adults with self-directed retirement accounts are either “not confident” or only “slightly confident” in their ability to make the right investment decisions. And just over a quarter of adults with self-directed retirement accounts don’t look for financial advice when investing that money; 52 percent of those who don’t look for advice say they either can’t afford it, or would like to have help but don’t know where to get it.