"... Gen Xers are the least likely of all generations to map out a plan to fund their lifestyle once they stop working. In fact, half (48%) of Gen Xers...say they have not done any retirement planning, according to the recently released Schroders 2024 U.S. Retirement Survey."

On average, Gen Xers think they'll need $1.07 million to retire but expect to accumulate just $603,000 by the time they retire, which leaves a savings gap of nearly $467,000, according to the Schroders' survey. This gap is the largest of any generation.

2 points:

1) People are financial idiots - part 1. On average Boomers think they need $960K to retire, Gen X thinks $1.1M, Millennials $1.1M.

A million dollars would not be a comfortable retirement for many posting on this board, if they retired tomorrow. Particularly if female and in good health, because y'all live longer. $1M for millennials' average goal is tragic.

2) People are financial idiots - part 2. Take a look at this fall's ACA debate and ask yourself if any politicians have the huevos to get rid of Social Security? What kind of retirement would Gen X/Y/Z have on $1.1M savings with no Social Security?

Not going to happen. Look how Trump is running away from this discussion. The next time the Dems come in I expect some kind of limited means testing perhaps. But, the program will continue to spend like there is no tomorrow and whatever money is "saved" by means testing will be spent on illegals. That means very high inflation, and those $1.1M goals for retirement (30-40 years out) are even more inadequate.

ETA - and, on average, people expect to save only about one-half of their goals.

This is out on several sites, but the first one had the best numbers. The direct link to Schroders' site was not very helpful.

https://www.benefitspro.com/2025/12/17/gen-x-faces-largest-retirement-savings-gap-of-any-generation/?kw=Gen%20X%20faces%20largest%20retirement%20savings%20gap%20of%20any%20generation

https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/gen-x-retirement-is-in-trouble-heres-what-you-can-do

But Elon say everything will be free and no one will have to work.

I don't talk much to my fellow Gen X friends about retirement savings but this is certainly not my situation. My father was adamant from the early 1980s when I entered the labor force that Social Security would collapse before I reached age 65 so it would be stupid to plan on it being a safety net. I have planned accordingly. I've made a lot of bad investments but also enough good ones I feel pretty good about maintaining my standard of living and leaving something to my kids.

torrid said:

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Any Gen X'er that started saving for retirement as soon as they got their first job out of school, and I mean putting enough into their 401k to get the full match, should be sitting on a nice little nest egg at this point.

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I am doing exactly that for my kids. They don't even know it. I created IRA, Trading and Roth IRAs for both of my kids and put in whatever money they get as gifts, earning into that. They don't get to take it out. Once they become more aware, I show them what they have and they can manage from then on. I never had a backup to take risks as I was always worried about repercussions. If you have financial security, you can take a lot of risk and get the reward also.
My son is 21, he is projected to become hit $1Million by age 26-27. And he won't even know it.

I like the idea of 10M but 5M seems to be where most of my peer cohort is targeting. Seems attainable.

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but expect to accumulate just $603,000

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The vast majority won't have near that much in the end, even including the equity in their home.

5Amp said:

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But Elon say everything will be free and no one will have to work.

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I know you are being sarcastic but some people actually believe CEOs and think that since they are rich, their words have value and even follow what they say. It is due to brainwashing that "rich ----> successful/honest/good".

In reality, while Elon is a business genius who had done amazing things he also needs to be a scumbag to maintain his position and wealth. He is another H1B charlatan as per his own tweets.

I'm 38 and my goal was $3M. Granted, if I get married, I would think she would also bring in her retirement as well, moving that goal to $4M-$5M.

Really, it just comes down to how much you need for your lifestyle. As long as your interest covers your expenses, you're good to go.

wsince everyone is a inancial idiots- please give a detailed plan- genius

Maroon Dawn said:

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Those of us in our early/mid working years right now are screwed. The Gray Tide of Boomers and X who didn't plan for retirement will dominate politics and demand the government tax us to death to give them their constitutional right to free everything in their retirement. Get ready for them to actively talk of seizing our 401ks to pay for all the freebies the olds will demand.

They will impoverish us to keep their cushy jobs by placating the olds who didn't plan for retirement

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The thread wasn't about Boomers………until it suddenly was.

Most Gen X poor planners I know of don't comprehend the first two basic principles of accumulating wealth for retirement:
1. Compound interest
2. "Pay yourself first"

Everyone that is Gen X with the state isn't retiring early, we're all waiting until we can also get Social Security. With born ERS and SS we'll be more than fine, but the days of retiring in your 50s because you meet the rule of 80 are long gone. We're all working a decade longer than we hoped.

And in all honesty, there's a lot of us who will work longer just to keep their current lifestyle.

For that $1 million, are we talking liquid funds or net worth, and does home equity count towards the million?

B-1 83 said:

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Maroon Dawn said:

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Those of us in our early/mid working years right now are screwed. The Gray Tide of Boomers and X who didn't plan for retirement will dominate politics and demand the government tax us to death to give them their constitutional right to free everything in their retirement. Get ready for them to actively talk of seizing our 401ks to pay for all the freebies the olds will demand.

They will impoverish us to keep their cushy jobs by placating the olds who didn't plan for retirement

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The thread wasn't about Boomers………until it suddenly was.

Most Gen X poor planners I know of don't comprehend the first two basic principles of accumulating wealth for retirement:
1. Compound interest
2. "Pay yourself first"

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Boomers are evil.

Maroon Dawn said:

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Those of us in our early/mid working years right now are screwed. The Gray Tide of Boomers and X who didn't plan for retirement will dominate politics and demand the government tax us to death to give them their constitutional right to free everything in their retirement. Get ready for them to actively talk of seizing our 401ks to pay for all the freebies the olds will demand.

They will impoverish us to keep their cushy jobs by placating the olds who didn't plan for retirement

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Leftists may propose this, but not your typical boomer. Boomers are primarily conservative.

AW 1880 said:

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For that $1 million, are we talking liquid funds or net worth, and does home equity count towards the million?

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A financial planner may say no, but personally I do. Two reasons behind that.

One, by not having a mortgage that means I will not have a monthly note to pay in retirement. Also, it is equity I can tap into if I really need it.

I will say this. If your net worth is entirely wrapped up in your home's equity, you will probably have an unhappy retirement. I money in several areas, my home being just one of them.

One other comment. I've had my house paid off for years. In retrospect, I would have been better off putting some of that money in the stock market instead. However, I'm not going back on that decision.

There are several YouTube channels which describe the savings issues in the USA. Holy Schmidt is one of my favorites because the guy is level headed and offers good advice.

The short version is well over 50% of people approaching retirement age have done a very poor job planning for their non-working years. Many at retirement age still carry large amounts of debt. It's a very sad picture.

Over_ed said:

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A million dollars would not be a comfortable retirement for many posting on this board, if they retired tomorrow. Particularly if female and in good health, because y'all live longer. $1M for millennials' average goal is tragic.

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This is interesting.

What kind of a lifestyle do you think 70+year old people need where they will need more than $1M?

Most people don't plan to retire until they are really old. That is the big difference between good savers and not-so-good savers. Good savers want to retire around 62.

How much is a "comfortable" lifestyle for someone that is too old to get out much? I think it is less than what you think it is.

How old is the assumed death age? That is important. Macabre, but important to address.

A person aged 70 that want's to live to 88, and has $1,000,000 i liquid savings, gets a 3.5% real return, could draw down ~$80k per year. That's a lot more than most need. If your house is paid for, $80k is likely more money than most will want to spend on one or two people unless you want to continue to collect nice things or travel a lot.

figure out how much you spend in a year, multiply by 25 and you can get a ballpark retirement number that will be pretty comfortable. If you want to retire early, be sure to add the ACA or Healthcare needs into that yearly number (at least for the amount of years you need it) unless you go without insurance or get it from another source. Saving in a HSA for years is a great way to pay for that if you retire early.

torrid said:

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AW 1880 said:

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For that $1 million, are we talking liquid funds or net worth, and does home equity count towards the million?

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A financial planner may say no, but personally I do. Two reasons behind that.

One, by not having a mortgage that means I will not have a monthly note to pay in retirement. Also, it is equity I can tap into if I really need it.

I will say this. If your net worth is entirely wrapped up in your home's equity, you will probably have an unhappy retirement. I money in several areas, my home being just one of them.

One other comment. I've had my house paid off for years. In retrospect, I would have been better off putting some of that money in the stock market instead. However, I'm not going back on that decision.

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I bought my house in 2010 and paid it off in 2018. Best decision I made. It's not just the financial part, it is the mental peace part of it. When my job got unsteady (which it did many times), I never had to worry about a mortgage payment. Mental peace does not have a price, it is invaluable.

So I think you did the right thing.

Gen X and no grey hair yet, for what it is worth, though they can't be far off from showing.

I've always been extremely conservative in investment and had no real interest in climbing the ladder at work. It's not my nature. Even so, our net worth just from putting the max into 401K for match and other basic strategies will get us well above the apparent goal for my age group. Pay yourself first and avoid big stupid mistakes is about 90% of what it takes. Even a modest income can get you there.

BQ2001 said:

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figure out how much you spend in a year, multiply by 25 and you can get a ballpark retirement number that will be pretty comfortable. If you want to retire early, be sure to add the ACA or Healthcare needs into that yearly number (at least for the amount of years you need it) unless you go without insurance or get it from another source.

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That is the one thing probably keeping me from pulling the rip cord today.

Sadly, that $80,000 is going to worth a ton less in 20 years thanks to our government spending habits and policies

For SS thebage if retirement has to be increased as people are living longer. In order for it to be solvent nearly 50% of those paying in have to die before they ever collect. I read some study years ago from actuaries about this, just as it was from its inception. So yes, People will have to wait to collect.

Then taxes will probably have to increase to some degree because the population issue is unavoidable, there are fewer contributors ratios against collectors. And lastly, some sort of means testing will have to be implemented OR remove the salary cap.

Those are all the options. We do not factor SS into our retirement plans, if uts there, great, if not it shouldn't sting as much. Medicare is our bigger concern.

As far as my fellow Xers, I was absolutely shocked to learn a good friend (his wife told my wife) that he has never saved a dime. He's not an idiot but I cannot fathom why, his younger brother on the other hand has saved immensely and will retire before I do.

I have other friends that have simply stated they will work until they die.

In speaking with several financial planners over the years I always ask what % of the people they consult with who have saved little to none. They without hesitation tell me its absolutely scary. And some are very successful businesses owners who make millions and spend every last dime. They are shocked to learn SS is not the nest egg they thought it was and realize they will have to work another decade to retire. Why? Because they cant change their high flying lifestyle theyre accustomed to.

Rocky Rider said:

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There are several YouTube channels which describe the savings issues in the USA. Holy Schmidt is one of my favorites because the guy is level headed and offers good advice.

The short version is well over 50% of people approaching retirement age have done a very poor job planning for their non-working years. Many at retirement age still carry large amounts of debt. It's a very sad picture.

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This is America of today. It is structured very poorly so that the rich find it easy to get richer and the poor find it very hard to break out of poverty. The CEOs and moneybags got greedy and added H1B programs so qualified Americans demanding more money cannot get jobs and the corporations get an unending supply of slaves who don't demand anything. How can one break out of the cycle? Almost impossible. This is not 1975 where you can "work hard", you still need an ecosystem for that and that is going away. No one becomes a billionaire by themselves. Even Elon is begging for H1Bs and he needs people to buy the crap he makes.

Musk went from 500B to 680B in months. Steve the Homeless guy cannot even get a job that pays a decent wage anymore. That is the America of today. Made only for CEOs and H1Bs. And yes, investors. Luckily I became an investor 11 years ago and am comfortable. Are you?

befitter said:

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Clearly the GenX people I know are not the same GenX people this post is referencing.

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I'm GEN X and most of my friends and college classmates don't seem to have an issue with retirement at all. One can make any survey come to the outcome they want with selective participation. First hint is $1mm for retirement - good luck with that for 10-15yrs. Be on welfare

torrid said:

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BQ2001 said:

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figure out how much you spend in a year, multiply by 25 and you can get a ballpark retirement number that will be pretty comfortable. If you want to retire early, be sure to add the ACA or Healthcare needs into that yearly number (at least for the amount of years you need it) unless you go without insurance or get it from another source.

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That is the one thing probably keeping me from pulling the rip cord today.

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If you haven't already, get on a plan that lets you invest in a HSA. Max that out, put it into an index fund and pay premiums out of that. Or do something like work at Starbucks part time and get on their insurance just working a few easy days a week.

BQ2001 said:

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torrid said:

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BQ2001 said:

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figure out how much you spend in a year, multiply by 25 and you can get a ballpark retirement number that will be pretty comfortable. If you want to retire early, be sure to add the ACA or Healthcare needs into that yearly number (at least for the amount of years you need it) unless you go without insurance or get it from another source.

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That is the one thing probably keeping me from pulling the rip cord today.

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If you haven't already, get on a plan that lets you invest in a HSA. Max that out, put it into an index fund and pay premiums out of that. Or do something like work at Starbucks part time and get on their insurance just working a few easy days a week.

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I know people who have done just that, retired a year or two early using their HSA dollars to bridge the gap until they are on Medicare. I have an HSA, and I put in the most I can every year mostly just for the tax savings. It's built up a little, but it doesn't have enough in it for ten years of private health insurance.