According to the federal reserve, the median net worth of people in retirement age is only ~400k

Remember, that includes home equity

That is shocking to me

Not shocking and why everyone working until SS kicks in

like these people at age 60-70 have had it fairly easy in terms of finding good employment, buying a home, etc., back in the day

the stock market has done tremendous returns over the last 50 years

what am i missing, why dont they have money

A lot of the working class in their 60s and 70s now never invested in the stock market at all. 

They were never taught how by their parents, lived paycheck to paycheck so they couldn’t save much, and never had a financial advisor. 

I think that’s a big part of it.