While these numbers appear low to this board, they are probably better than average for the average American.
A couple thoughts:
Like one of the women in the article, I have a pension. It is a double edged sword. On the one hand, I have live-forever genes and like the idea of not being able to outlive my money. On the other hand, I am very aware that pensions have "gone under" in the past. If mine were to disappear, it would impact my retirement, but it would not mean I'd be lost. With only $190,000, this woman cannot say the same thing. Another negative: my husband and I are both tied to this state because of my pension. If I could go back in time and have the pension or the equivalent in a 401K, I'm not sure what I'd do.
I agree with an above poster that it must be stressful for the last woman to live off her daughter and son-in-law, but don't miss the detail that -- when things were better-- she sent money to her parents and her children. While inter-generational financial support (of adults) is not an expectation in my family, it sounds like it may be the norm for her family and/or culture.
The worst-prepared woman is the third one. She's 40ish, so she does not have the best asset of all: time for compound interest to work its magic, yet she has only $89,000 saved for retirement . . . But the real kicker is that she is spending the equivalent of 1/3 her life savings every year for her two children to attend private school! I fully believe in helping your kids through college, but she cannot afford to spend this much. It would've made sense to make less expensive choices.