Gen X Debt and Retirement

A recent study found that Gen X (42 to 57 years old) is the least likely generation to know when they want to retire and how much money they’ll need to do it. The typical Gen X household has about $64,000 saved for it — not nothing, but not enough to generate a lot of income. It also found that 20 percent of Gen X respondents overestimate how much they can pull from their retirement funds. They thought that they should withdraw, once retired, 10 to 15 percent of their savings every year. In reality, they shouldn’t withdraw more than four to five percent. But even those who haven’t reached retirement yet are already pulling out of their savings due to their current financial and debt situation.

Most people are worried about how debt will impact their retirement funds and 31 percent of Americans feel like inflation has set back their retirement plans.

Gen X and Debt

Gen X has more debt than any other generation, which sits at an average of $136,869. In 2016, that average debt load was $124,972, according to a LendingTree report that analyzed over 140,000 credit reports for the four oldest generations. It’s no wonder, then, that the typical Xer is generally pretty stressed about their finances, particularly when it comes to credit card debt.

More than half of Xer respondents said that they were stressed “some” or “a lot” of the time when it comes to any type of debt, whether it be credit cards, personal loans, or student loan debts. The stress has given some members of the generation a negative outlook on their finances. When asked how they would rate their financial health, slightly more than 41% of Gen X said it’s not very good or not good at all.

Stop the Stress

At the Bond and Botes Law Offices, our debt relief attorneys can, at absolutely no charge, review your situation and develop a strategic plan to resolve your debt problems with or without bankruptcy. Call our office 1-877-581-3396 and take a step towards a stress-free retirement.