While Baby Boomers got the most press during the recession in terms of loss of wealth, a new Pew study shows that Gen Xers are actually much worse off than their parents.
Baby Boomers – a generation of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 – did a lot of hand-wringing during the recession that took root beginning in 2008. Many watched their retirement accounts lose thousands in a matter of months and the value of their homes plummet. Financial experts and pundits alike wondered if the Boomers would ever be able to retire, given the loss of wealth they experienced over the course of the Great Recession.
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But CNN Money, reporting on new data provided by the Pew Charitable Trust, suggests that we were all worrying about the wrong generation. According to Pew, Generation X – those born between roughly 1966 and 1978 – are actually in much worse shape post-recession than their Boomer parents. The Pew study found that a combination of factors, such as lower retirement savings at the start of the recession, unemployment as a result of the recession, and high debt loads from credit cards and student loans, have put Gen X in a much more precarious financial position than Boomers. According to CNN Money, financial experts project that if Gen Xers don’t start addressing their financial shortcomings, many are on track to retire with enough savings to provide only half of their pre-retirement annual income. While the net worth of Boomers did take a substantial hit during the recession, many have seen some of their wealth bounce back in the past year, and most carry less debt than typical Gen Xers.
Gen X and Gen Y (those born between about 1980 and 2000, also known as Millennials) will need to be vigilant with their finances if they hope to retire with any type of retirement security. This means avoiding debt, investing early, and, above all, staying employed. But in a still-rocky job market and with record levels student loan debt, many younger workers find this advice difficult to follow.
What’s your best wealth-building advice for Gen X and Gen Y?
New Study Shows That Gen X Lags Behind Boomers In Projected Retirement Security was originally featured on Quizzle Wire
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