For its current financial worries, Generation X blames inflation. And the COVID-19 pandemic. And the Great Recession of 2008. And the dot-com bubble of the late 1990s.
It reads like a laundry list of economic setbacks. But Gen X has lived and worked (or not worked) through a parade of financial shocks, a series of downturns that largely define the generation, at least in financial terms.
A recent survey by Zety, the resume builder site, asked 1,003 Gen X workers to identify the major economic events that had hampered their finances. Here’s how they replied:
- 64% cited rising prices from elevated inflation over the past few years
- 46% blamed the COVID-19 pandemic
- 23% invoked the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009
- And 10% reached back to the dot-com bubble, which burst in the early 2000s
“I think what we’re looking at here is a compounding effect: every few years, being hit by something,” said Jasmine Escalera, a career expert at Zety.
For Gen X, retirement reality bites
The Zety survey is the latest of many reports
to show Generation X struggling with its impending retirement.
Gen X was born between 1965 and 1980. Its oldest members are now 61, a year away from qualifying for Social Security.
Just over half of Gen Xers surveyed said they fear they haven’t saved enough for retirement. Nearly two-fifths expect to retire at age 68 or later, or not at all.
A pervasive economic theory suggests that Generation X has struggled more than the generations that preceded and followed it.
Many in Generation X entered the workforce before or during the dot-com bubble, the tech-stock boom that went bust in 2000.
Several years later, many Gen Xers were in their prime earning years when the Great Recession hit.
“In the prime of our adult life, we experienced a lost decade,” said Phil Battin, a wealth management adviser in Warrenville, Illinois, who is a Gen Xer.
A lifetime of financial setbacks
Every generation suffered in the Great Recession, but economic research suggests Gen X suffered more than most.
The financial turmoil of Generation X arguably “goes back even farther” than the dot-com bubble, said John Faircloth, a private wealth adviser at Northwestern Mutual’s Riverwalk Wealth Advisors in Tampa, Florida.
Many older Gen-Xers emerged from college during the recession of 1990 and 1991, which set a bleak tone for their careers.
“If you think about it sequentially, you had the recession in the 1990s, then you had a couple good years, and then we got wiped out by the dot-coms, and then you had a couple good years, and then we got wiped out by the global financial crisis,” said Faircloth, who is a Gen Xer.
“You have to account for some of that financial trauma that people have experienced in their lifetime, and Gen X have experienced a lot of it.”
Gen X came of age as the 401(k) arrived
Generation X also came of age as the nation embraced a new retirement model, which called on workers to build savings in 401(k) accounts rather than rely on workplace pensions.
The average Gen Xer started saving for retirement at age 32, according to the 2026 Planning & Progress Study from Northwestern Mutual. By contrast, the typical millennial started saving at 28, and the average Gen Zer at 22.
“In retirement planning, that’s not a small delay,” said Tiffani Potesta, chief commercial officer at Voya Investment Management.
Gen X also expects to retire later than younger workers: at age 67, on average, according to Northwestern Mutual. The typical millennial plans to retire at 64, the average Gen Zer at 61.
By the time they retire, Gen Zers “could finish with twice as much” retirement savings as Gen Xers because of their head start, Potesta said.
After all the economic shocks, retirement experts say, it’s not surprising that many Gen Xers feel unprepared for retirement.
But it’s not too late to prepare. Here are some tips for Gen X workers to shore up their retirement plans.
Max out your retirement saving
Thanks to recent changes in federal law, Gen Xers who are approaching retirement age can save more than ever in 401(k) accounts.
Any employee with a 401(k) plan can contribute as much as $24,500 in 2026. Savers 50 or older can make additional “catch-up” contributions up to $8,000, raising the total contribution to $32,500. Workers ages 60, 61, 62 and 63 have an even higher “super catch-up contribution” limit of $11,250.
Make a retirement plan
Clearly, Gen Xers are worried about retirement. But they may not spend enough time planning for it.
Only 29% of Americans engage in retirement planning on a regular basis, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, and only 31% work with professional financial advisers.
“Everyone should have a written plan,” Faircloth said.
Work longer; claim Social Security later
Working even a year or two longer, and waiting a few years to take Social Security, can vastly improve your retirement prospects, retirement experts say.
A Stanford University study found that delaying retirement by just three to six months has the same impact on retirement savings as raising your 401(k) contribution rate by a full percentage point for 30 years.
And many economists say workers are generally better off if they postpone claiming Social Security. Your monthly benefit checks get larger with every year you wait to claim them, from age 62 through 70.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: For its economic woes, Gen X still blames the Great Recession
