Arizona Retirement Income from The Tooth Fairy? 

GLENDALE, Ariz. (Aug. 24, 2015) — It turns out a good source for retirement income for today’s kids in Arizona may be right under their pillow. According to a new analysis out today from Delta Dental of Arizona if today’s 6-year-olds invest all the money they receive from the Tooth Fairy, they could be sitting on a combined total of roughly $1.6 billion by the time they reach 67, the traditional retirement age. 

That could mean a whopping $21,000 per child when current 6-year-olds in Arizona hit retirement age, if they invest all their Tooth Fairy earnings. Delta Dental’s 2015 The Original Tooth Fairy Poll® found the Tooth Fairy visited 81 percent of homes in the United States, meaning out of the current 93,286 6-years-olds in Arizona about 75,562 likely received gifts.¹ 

The retirement income figure is based on a 6-year-old (average age for first tooth loss) receiving the national average Tooth Fairy gift of $4.36 (from Delta Dental’s most recent survey of U.S. parents of 6-12 year-olds), with 6.5 percent in-mouth inflation (the typical increase for Tooth Fairy gifts from year to year) for each subsequent tooth, and a 9.6 percent return on investment based on historic stock market returns (S&P 500 average) per year until they turn 67. 

By region, the retirement savings will vary in line with the average 2014 Tooth Fairy gift:

• Northeast: $20,477 (average 2014 Tooth Fairy gift of $4.16)
• Midwest: $13,910 (average 2014 Tooth Fairy gift of $2.83)
• South: $25,362 (average 2014 Tooth Fairy gift of $5.16)
• West: $23,004 (average 2014 Tooth Fairy gift of $4.68) 

According to Delta Dental’s The Original Tooth Fairy Poll, the average Tooth Fairy gift reached a record high last year, up 24.6 percent from 2013 when the average gift was $3.50. For more information about The Original Tooth Fairy Poll, visit www.theoriginaltoothfairypoll.com

About Delta Dental of Arizona
Delta Dental of Arizona is the leading dental benefits provider in Arizona, serving more than 892,000 enrollees and more than 3,200 contracted dentists across the state. Passionate about oral health and its importance to generations of families, Delta Dental of Arizona has worked for more than 40 years to improve oral health by emphasizing preventive care and making dental coverage accessible to a wide variety of employers, groups and individuals. For more information about Delta Dental of Arizona, visit www.deltadentalaz.com.