As the oldest Gen Xers enter their 60s, many fear they won’t be able to live out the retirement of their dreams.
A Wednesday report from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, determined that only 18% of Gen X workers were “very confident they will be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.” One quarter strongly agree that they are currently building a large enough retirement nest egg to feel secure in retirement, a few percentage points lower than millennials and boomers.
Gen X’s fears are grounded in reality. The median Gen X worker has $113,000 saved in total household retirement accounts, less than half of the $263,000 saved among baby boomer workers. It’s a far cry from the $750,000 Gen Xers feel they need to have saved by retirement to feel financially secure.
Over the past year, Business Insider has spoken to dozens of Gen Xers navigating job searches, self-employment, and financial pressures from caregiving. Many older Gen Xers said that losing a job in their 50s derailed their careers. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that for those in the 55 to 64 age group, the average unemployment duration was over eight months in September, about seven weeks longer than those in the 45 to 54 group. Many of the Gen Xers BI spoke to blamed implicit age discrimination.
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Some told Business Insider that they’ve taken substantial pay cuts, filed for bankruptcy, or arranged a break from work to develop AI skills. Many have had to draw from their 401(k)s or rely on loved ones to get by after draining their savings. A few said they grew tired of the job hunt and turned to starting a business instead.
Many Gen Xers, born between 1965 and 1980, have been pushing back their retirements. More than one in three in the Transamerica survey said that they would likely not retire until 70 or older, or wouldn’t retire at all. More than half anticipated they would still work in retirement to some degree.
The survey suggests Gen X on the whole feels less secure about its retirement than their older and younger peers. Less than a quarter of Gen X expects they could retire before 65, half the rate of Gen Z.
Retiring early — even if temporarily — is a common trend among caregivers caring for loved ones. The survey found that more than a third of workers are currently or were previously caregivers. Among them, 35% said their financial situation has worsened while providing care. As the survey notes, millennials and Gen Xers are slightly more likely to bear the brunt of the work compared to other generations.
Family caregivers are spending over $11,500 in out-of-pocket expenses, and though many have taken on second jobs, others have put their careers on hold in their late 40s and 50s to assist their parents or spouses. A few gave up six-figure salaries and rely on savings, public pensions, or a spouse’s disability insurance to get by.
“When a whole host of people leave the workforce, or when people take three or four years off, their family suffers, and society suffers” from the economic hit, said Samir Shah, CEO of care navigation platform CareScout.
Some of this angst can be traced to having started saving later than their younger colleagues. The average Gen Xer started saving through a 401(k) at age 30, compared to age 26 for millennials. Many Gen Xers began working when 401(k)s were first introduced into workforces after the decline of defined-benefit pension plans. Upwards of eight in 10 Gen X workers are offered a 401(k) or similar plan, while nearly half believe those instruments will be their primary retirement income source.
Another 27% of Gen X workers anticipate drawing primarily from Social Security to fund their retirement, though three-fourths of respondents express some concern that Social Security would be insolvent by the time they retire.
Despite somewhat more promising retirement-related statistics, younger and older generations also expressed financial woes in the survey. Among Gen Z workers, six in 10 feel burned out, with half struggling to make ends meet. Many cited paying off debt, building emergency savings, and covering basic living expenses as their current financial priorities, amassing a median savings amount of about $37,000.
Nearly six in 10 millennials cited debt as a deterrent to their retirement savings; 37% serve as caregivers, nearly all of whom made changes to their working arrangements.
For boomers, over half either don’t plan on retiring or expect to after 70, and just over a quarter have a written retirement strategy. Preparing for long-term care and outliving their savings are boomers’ greatest retirement fears.
