Gen X, 65 million Americans born between 1965 and 1980, is fast approaching retirement, and unlike the boomers before them, they’re the first generation whose retirement rests on a 401(k) rather than a pension. Only 14% of Gen X workers have a traditional pension, compared with 56% of baby boomers.
And as latchkey kids, Gen X grew up to be the workhorses: the generation most likely to define themselves by output and impact, and the least likely to ask for help. Just 26% of Gen Xers work with a financial advisor, compared with 43% of boomers. These two facts drastically change what retirement looks like for this generation.
Which is why, for many, it doesn’t feel like an invitation. It feels like a threat to their identity — and a challenge unlike any they’ve faced: turning decades of savings into an income stream. A hurdle where they may have to ask for help — something they’re not used to doing.
The biggest retirement shift in a generation is starting to happen and once again, nobody’s watching. A generation sandwiched between the boomers and the millennials, Gen X built careers in the gaps, ran companies from the middle, grinding away while everyone else got the headlines.
I should know. I’m a Gen Xer. Born in 1967, I’m a bona fide latchkey kid. My mother was a registered nurse, and every day after school I unlocked the door for myself and my two younger siblings, got us a snack, and watched The Brady Bunch. I built my career from the ground up and spent more than two decades in the 401(k) industry, helping Fortune 500 companies design their plans—then retired four-and-a-half years ago.
