THE present difficulties in social security financing will probably be further compounded in the coming decades by the low birth rate and consequent aging of the population. Workers approaching may have to look forward to minimal social security payments with little prospect of escalator clauses to protect the purchasing power of their pensions. Therefore, it will be necessary to investigate levels of private savings to determine whether prospective retirees will have adequate to cover their needs. If these holdings are inadequate it may be necessary to formulate a policy to stimulate savings amongst families who are approaching retirement. This paper will examine net worth situations of a nationwide sample of men (National Longitudinal Study, 1966-1971) on the eve of retirement (age 45 to 59 at the time of the first interview) to find out (a) the current state of net worth, (b) factors related to high levels of net worth, (c) future prospects for these factors and (d) policies that might be employed to stimulate growth in net worth.