Retirement is a Growing Concern Across Generations of Workers

Published on April 14, 2025

As the stock market swings wildly, saving enough for retirement is becoming ever more concerning for Gen X taxpayers—people born between 1965 and 1980—and even younger generations. Now ages 45 to 60, Gen Xers especially are struggling to reach the financial security their parents attained as the retirement horizon approaches for older members.

Although the youngest of them have catchup time before they retire, saving adequately for retirement among Generation X is competing against daily living expenses and other financial commitments such as saving for children’s education, supporting grown children and/or caring for aging parents. All these factors are cutting into their ability to fund their IRAs and workplace retirement plans.

As reported in Think Advisor, statistics about Generation X and retirement readiness are sobering and show that many are not well positioned for a comfortable retirement today. Only 14% of Gen X Americans feel they have saved enough money for retirement, believing they will need around $1.07 million to retire comfortably; however, this group expects to have only $602,944 saved. Their projected shortfall is higher than what millennials and baby boomers expect.

Further aggravating Gen Xers’ retirement angst:
• More than half (54%) are concerned about outliving their assets in retirement.
• Nearly half (48%) have not done any retirement planning.
• Forty-three percent plan to claim Social Security early due to concerns about the program’s longevity/sustainability.

Retirement concerns across generations

According to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, nearly 80% of the 10,000 respondents to the company’s annual retirement survey said that members of their generation will have a harder time reaching financial security compared with their parents’ generation. And over 70% worry about the future of the Social Security Trust Fund (on track to be depleted by 2035 or sooner). This is despite greater access to employer-sponsored retirement plans, higher participation rates than 30 and 40 years ago, and a median contribution rate of 10%. Those competing financial priorities are cutting into all of that.

These findings were presented in “Retirement in the USA: The Outlook of the Workforce,” Transamerica’s 25th annual retirement survey, which further revealed that:
• More than 8 in 10 employed workers (83%) are saving in an employer-sponsored retirement plan and/or outside the workplace,
• These employees started saving at the median age of 26
• Over one-third (37%) have tapped into their retirement accounts; 31% of that group did so to take a loan, or an early or hardship withdrawal
• The estimated median amount in household retirement accounts is $82,000
• More than half of employed workers (52%) expect their primary source of retirement income to come from self-funded savings (IRAs, 401(k) and 403(b) plans, and other savings and investments.
• However, only 28% “strongly agree” they are building a large enough retirement nest egg.

Increased life expectancy and the costs of long-term care are also of concern—for retirees as well as their adult children who may not yet be saving enough. The Transamerica survey reported that 20% of respondents expect to live to at least 100 years old.

Build retirement savings over the long term in a self-directed IRA

Even if you are an older Gen Xer, you can open a new self-directed IRA and contribute to it as long as you are working. Remember that taxpayers 50 and older can make additional catchup contributions to their retirement plans above the annual contribution limit.

For anyone saving for retirement at any age, investing through a self-directed IRA provides many opportunities to include alternative assets—which are not correlated with market performance and are excellent for long-term growth strategies. Investors who know and understand these types of investments can include real estate, precious metals, private equity funding, commodities, unsecured and secured loans, and many more nontraditional investments in a self-directed plan with the potential for more lucrative growth over time.

Self-direction enables investors to build tax-advantaged retirement wealth with a more diverse portfolio that provides a hedge against market volatility, which we are currently experiencing (and which is stressing taxpayers who are invested in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds).

Our starter kits walk you through the steps to open and fund a new account, and as a convenience to our clients, we have all the forms you need to conduct your self-directed transactions with our team. If you have any questions about self-direction as a wealth-building strategy, contact Next Generation at NewAccounts@NextGenerationTrust.com or 888.857.8058.