Baby Boomers were the most likely to name outliving their retirement savings as one of their greatest fears about retirement. Image: Smit/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffA survey has found sometimes widely varying expectations among the four generations currently in the workforce regarding when they will be able to retire and how financially stable they will be, with the generation closest to retirement—Baby Boomers—the most pessimistic.
A report from the TransAmerica Center for Retirement Studies shows, for example, that among Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) not yet retired, 37 percent expect they will have to retire after age 70 and another 19 percent expect that they will never retire. That total of 56 percent was well above the next-oldest generation, Generation X (born 1965-1980), at 39 percent, with Millennials (born 1981-1996) and Generation Z (born 1997-2021) at 32 percent each.
Of those planning to continue working past age 65, 65 percent of Baby Boomers said they expect to do it because they will need the money, compared with Generation X at 58 percent, Millennials at 49 percent and Generation Z at 45 percent.
Baby Boomers at the same time were the most likely to name outliving their retirement savings as one of their greatest fears about retirement, by 46 percent, declining by generation to 33 percent for Generation Z. A similar pattern showed in concerns that Social Security will be reduced or eliminated in the future, ranging from 47 to 23 percent.
Among non-financial fears about retirement, the most commonly cited were declining health that requires long-term care and declining mental abilities—with little variation by generation among them. Generation Z meanwhile was notably higher than the others in expressing concerns about lack of affordable housing and feeling isolated and alone in retirement.
Baby Boomers meanwhile are the most likely to have taken steps designed to prolong their working careers such as concentrating on staying healthy, keeping up their job performance and keeping skills up to date. However, they were less likely to take steps such as networking, taking classes and actively monitoring the job market.
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