"The Bucket List" Kicks its Way into First Place

“The Bucket List,” staring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman as dying cancer patients who set out to accomplish a list of things they always wanted to do before kicking the, um, proverbial bucket, scored first place and $19.5 million at the box office this opening weekend giving hope to audiences around the country that we can live out our wildest dreams — but at what cost?

In the film, the two seniors—the independently wealthy Nicholson and the not-so-wealthy mechanic Freeman—embark on Nicholson’s private jet and travel around the world, making pit stops in India, China, Tanzania, and other far-flung destinations. They stroll around the Taj Mahal, ride across the Great Wall on motorcycles, go on safari in the Serengeti and ultimately rack up a bill of $105,730 according to an estimate by the Los Angeles Times.

Unfortunately, most Americans’ golden years savings’ are more like Freeman’s than Nicholson’s. According to a recent AARP survey, 52% of U.S. households have saved less than $25,000 for retirement, including some who haven’t saved a penny. “We’re famous as one of the most developed countries in the world and we have the worse savings rate,” says Bill Gustafson, senior director at Texas Tech University’s Center for Financial Responsibility.

“Most of the savings for people in the U.S. tends to be in their retirement funds or in their home,” he says. “If you sell your house to go on a trip, you better die when you come back because you won’t have any place to live,” he says. Same thing goes for those who cash out on their retirement plans.