One in every five working Americans – and one in four Gen X’ers, born between the mid-1960s and the mid-1980s – expect to retire later than planned because of the economic shutdown, a survey by the Northwestern Mutual insurance company has found.
A third of survey respondents have had to adjust their future financial plans this year. Another 15 percent had no plan before the shutdown but have now created one.
Almost 60 percent of Gen X workers are highly or moderately anxious about their outlook for retirement, compared to less than half of Millennials and Gen Z’ers and just 25 percent of Baby Boomers, the survey reported.
“Gen X, by and large, is in the thick of everything, personally and financially right now,” Northwestern Mutual financial planner Chantel Bonneau told CNBC. They may be carrying mortgages, building careers, dealing with children being schooled remotely, saving for children’s educations, and perhaps caring for aging parents, making it hard for them to keep paying steadily into a retirement account.
In contrast, Gen Z’ers and most Millennials have at least two or more decades remaining in their working lives and Boomers already are at retirement age.
TREND FORECAST: Not only will more people be working longer before retirement, as economic conditions worsen and national debt levels continue to escalate, but politicians will also push for raising the retirement age, thus spending less on social security benefits.
