I don't see how this article even exists. I'm a millennial, but only now am I even finally starting my final career (finished undergrad, professional school, and residency) so now I'm able to...
I don't see how this article even exists. I'm a millennial, but only now am I even finally starting my final career (finished undergrad, professional school, and residency) so now I'm able to actually start assessing my financials and make plans
Maybe I'm just super duper behind, but this article feels like sensationalism. Zoomers haven't lived long enough to have a great concept of what they need to do for retirement I don't think
It strikes me as one of those "hey, look at how naive the youths are" articles. Of course Gen Z doesn't understand the nuances of retirement, they are still new to the workforce in general and...
It strikes me as one of those "hey, look at how naive the youths are" articles. Of course Gen Z doesn't understand the nuances of retirement, they are still new to the workforce in general and gaining life experience. What should be more eye opening is the discrepancy between how much the older generations think they need to retire and how much they actually saved, considering how much closer they are to actually retiring.
That's exactly what I'm wondering too. Is it really just The Youths that don't understand how much they need for retirement? Also what percentage of the older groups are still expecting pensions,...
That's exactly what I'm wondering too. Is it really just The Youths that don't understand how much they need for retirement? Also what percentage of the older groups are still expecting pensions, and is that reflected in the data?
The figures they were using to estimate a need for 4m for a comfortable retirement are also incredibly conservative; they assume 3% inflation and 6% growth, which means just 3% over inflation....
The figures they were using to estimate a need for 4m for a comfortable retirement are also incredibly conservative; they assume 3% inflation and 6% growth, which means just 3% over inflation. This would be historically poor over a 40 year period.
If the current trend lines with regards to geopolitical stability don’t improve we might see 6% average nominal returns as a historical artifact. Granted, at some point the entire financial system...
If the current trend lines with regards to geopolitical stability don’t improve we might see 6% average nominal returns as a historical artifact.
Granted, at some point the entire financial system is fucked so it’s probably moot.
Is it weird that this is my general philosophy towards retirement planning? Basically, make sure I'm saving way more than most people in my generation, and index invest. If this doesn't work for...
Granted, at some point the entire financial system is fucked so it’s probably moot.
Is it weird that this is my general philosophy towards retirement planning? Basically, make sure I'm saving way more than most people in my generation, and index invest. If this doesn't work for me, than it didn't work for anyone else either, so we're all fucked together anyway, and there's nothing better I could have done.
Nah that's as much as anyone can do. I think in past generations people were just indifferent to/reconciled to the fact that life was unpredictable and there's only so much you can do about it....
Nah that's as much as anyone can do. I think in past generations people were just indifferent to/reconciled to the fact that life was unpredictable and there's only so much you can do about it.
We're in this Pax Americana of a historic era of sustained economic growth and general peace (in the developed world) which makes it hard to accept that things just don't feel so stable anymore.
My Grandparents seemed to believe in the retirement fairy. They were extremely lucky my Grandmother got a pretty good pension. As it was, they couldn't really afford a nursing home. My approach is...
My Grandparents seemed to believe in the retirement fairy. They were extremely lucky my Grandmother got a pretty good pension. As it was, they couldn't really afford a nursing home. My approach is save as much as I can and pray since pensions are disappearing and social security may as well.
Social Security will only disappear if people want it to. There is no solvency crisis. The worst case scenario is some combination of a slightly higher contribution rate, much higher cap on...
Social Security will only disappear if people want it to. There is no solvency crisis. The worst case scenario is some combination of a slightly higher contribution rate, much higher cap on income, and either slightly lower payouts or slightly higher retirement age.
The finance industry likes to fearmonger about SS disappearing because it makes people put their money with these private pensions and money market funds and eroded political support for the Social Security program. It’s a PsyOp.
I question how scientific a survey managed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company is. This seems like a narrative being planted to sell parents of Zoomers life insurance policies. But, like...
I question how scientific a survey managed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company is. This seems like a narrative being planted to sell parents of Zoomers life insurance policies.
But, like you said, the youngest Zoomers are still teenagers. They don't have any concept of how life-spans actually pan out. Anything after 30 is so far away they can't even see it.
I'm in my late 30s and I think only over the past 4 or 5 years have I felt like I was in a position to be making longer-term plans financially. That Great Recession was a real doozy. But somehow, Vanguard's retirement projections on my 401k keep telling me I'll be pulling down a monthly income that is barely 15% lower than my actual monthly income right now, which makes absolutely no sense to me. I think they're being a bit too rosy and using a model that exaggerates the upside potential.
Yeah. They say that gen z expects to retire at 60, then say 2 out of 5 expects to live to 100, and then extrapolate that to being a whole generation planning for a 40 year retirement. Maybe...
Yeah. They say that gen z expects to retire at 60, then say 2 out of 5 expects to live to 100, and then extrapolate that to being a whole generation planning for a 40 year retirement. Maybe someone can help me, but reading through this link and the source it links to, I cannot find the specific number that backs up Gen Z planning to retire at 60.
Managed by Northwestern Mutual and only 2,740 respondents. Between the low number and Northwestern Mutual customers generally being not financially savvy, I hold some hope this isn't actually...
Managed by Northwestern Mutual and only 2,740 respondents. Between the low number and Northwestern Mutual customers generally being not financially savvy, I hold some hope this isn't actually super representative.
2740 responses seems pretty good to me. That's more than any number on this chart. The bias in sampling might be significant, but I'd think just having any kind of retirement/investment account...
2740 responses seems pretty good to me. That's more than any number on this chart.
The bias in sampling might be significant, but I'd think just having any kind of retirement/investment account would select for those who are more knowledgeable about retirement savings, just by excluding those who have no accounts.
Obviously the advice from the financial planning company is to seek out a financial advisor, so there's that bias, but I don't see why the data would be wildly inaccurate. People on average are bad at retirement planning.
I'm OK at retirement planning but terrible at statistics. Thanks for sharing that link - I definitely learned something! At ~250 million adult Americans that would put this survey at a little...
I'm OK at retirement planning but terrible at statistics. Thanks for sharing that link - I definitely learned something! At ~250 million adult Americans that would put this survey at a little under 10% margin of error.
Yeah so personally I view "retirement" less as a "I'm no longer working a job" thing and more of a "I am no longer focusing on career ambitions and building financial assets." I do not expect to...
Yeah so personally I view "retirement" less as a "I'm no longer working a job" thing and more of a "I am no longer focusing on career ambitions and building financial assets." I do not expect to be able to truly retire and I'm not sure I'd be particularly happy with nothing to do if I did.
But if I'm at a place where the lifestyle expenses are low because debts are cleared, I have a place to live (either owned outright with manageable maintenance expenses or low rent), and the kids are financially independent then I think I'd be content to just do some irregular consulting type of thing and not have to worry about the size of the paycheck or career progression as much.
This is basically what I'm expecting as well. I've taught math for years, up through the high school level. There's a part of me that wants to retire from industry and teach once we've cleared our...
This is basically what I'm expecting as well. I've taught math for years, up through the high school level. There's a part of me that wants to retire from industry and teach once we've cleared our debt (house predominantly).
I believe you are right, but there is an important distinction in what we see regarding what our educators get as compensation, and what I'm saying. I'm not going to care what a [substitute]...
I believe you are right, but there is an important distinction in what we see regarding what our educators get as compensation, and what I'm saying. I'm not going to care what a [substitute] teacher's salary is when I'm 65 and semi-retired.
The intention is that I'm supplementing my retirement money by working and doing something that benefits society without worrying about my financial situation.
Dude, those of us in the middle of the pack are struggling to get enough money to pay rent/mortgage. In my area, a one-bedroom is $2,500 per month. Which, if I'm making $30/hour leaves me $2,300...
Dude, those of us in the middle of the pack are struggling to get enough money to pay rent/mortgage. In my area, a one-bedroom is $2,500 per month. Which, if I'm making $30/hour leaves me $2,300 to pay for power, water, internet (so I can DO my job), gas for my car, groceries, and the occasional night out. Leaves me with nothing. Can't save for shit, and $30/hr ain't bad. Except it now is because it isn't sustainable. Glad you've been successful, but most of us are struggling to get anything.
Have you been in the job market lately? I've received hundreds of emails and calls for a job that didn't even exist. Such an awful feeling when you're unemployed and just want something, ANYTHING, to bring in more than $440 a week on unemployment. Hell, disability pays better at $1,440 every two weeks which does nothing. My mortgage is $1,700/mo with an HOA fee of $500/mo, so I have little left to even eat. I'm disabled and need protein to help build my strength, but $0.99 pot pies cannot provide that.
in my area 30/hr 40/wk leaves 4k. 2k goes to rent, 1k goes to car,gas,ins,utils,food. 1k left to save assuming nothing bad happens. 8 years ago it would have been more like 4k - 1k - .5k leaving...
in my area 30/hr 40/wk leaves 4k. 2k goes to rent, 1k goes to car,gas,ins,utils,food. 1k left to save assuming nothing bad happens. 8 years ago it would have been more like 4k - 1k - .5k leaving 2.5k. Surviving on less than 4k a month is... tough.
Then we get these jerks blabbing on about how nobody wants to work. Let me tell you, I'd rather turn down a job that pays crap for my 15+ years of experience and live in a homeless shelter and...
Then we get these jerks blabbing on about how nobody wants to work. Let me tell you, I'd rather turn down a job that pays crap for my 15+ years of experience and live in a homeless shelter and visit the local food bank to eat.
I started my Roth and 401k at 24, and I felt like I had waited too long. You really need to start putting away money when you first enter the workforce if you want a good chance at retirement. I'm...
I started my Roth and 401k at 24, and I felt like I had waited too long. You really need to start putting away money when you first enter the workforce if you want a good chance at retirement. I'm lucky to have a career that is probably not going to disappear (I hope) before I retire or die, but there is a growing number of jobs that won't exist in 20 years. I think job security is mostly a thing of the past, so you need to start saving early and put as much away as possible.
That's just my feelings on it. I also don't trust the stability of the US dollar, so I also believe in diversifying in physical commodities. I've experienced the loss of 80% of my net worth in market crashes, so I know how unpredictable saving for the future can be.
This article feels like it takes on a bit of a sensational spin just to dunk on Gen Zs... 40% of Gen Z think they'll live to 100, but... 60% don't? As well, the % (40/60) is the exact same for the...
This article feels like it takes on a bit of a sensational spin just to dunk on Gen Zs...
40% of Gen Z think they'll live to 100, but... 60% don't? As well, the % (40/60) is the exact same for the Millennials polled, too? Plus, according to the study, "Millennials and Gen Xers plan to work to age 63 and 65, respectively." So, someone could have just as easily written the title "Millennials are expecting a 37-year retirement. Good luck, experts say." The snark towards Gen Z feels... unnecessary?
Plus like. I imagine age plays a factor? I'm sure every generation had more lofty ambitions in their 20s than they did in their 40s, after which their path in life became more set in stone. The older generations are closer to retirement, and there's less uncertainty for them to predict. They have a better idea of how things are going to play out?
I just don't see how you can craft this sort of narrative from just this poll. Idk... this just feels like clickbait to me.
I feel like there's a lot of news in the media to cause generational animosity. Millennials hating boomers, gen Z being lazy, gen X completely forgotten (as usual). Did everyone forget that the...
I feel like there's a lot of news in the media to cause generational animosity. Millennials hating boomers, gen Z being lazy, gen X completely forgotten (as usual).
Did everyone forget that the boomers didn't like their parent's generation, the silent generation, either? Half the music out of the 60s was about rebellion.
Sometimes I get the feeling it's all just to distract from the larger issue: wealth inequality.
Occam’s razor is that people just like to read these kinds of articles, so sites keep publishing them. Generations complaining about each other is a mainstay in recorded human history, from...
Occam’s razor is that people just like to read these kinds of articles, so sites keep publishing them. Generations complaining about each other is a mainstay in recorded human history, from antiquity to today.
Just to add on to everyone seemingly disliking this article: I can't find a single mention of which age range they defined as "Gen Z", which is really important for interpreting data in the early...
Just to add on to everyone seemingly disliking this article:
I can't find a single mention of which age range they defined as "Gen Z", which is really important for interpreting data in the early working years. The full report just says "A full methodology is available." but I can't find it anywhere.
Yahoo says Gen Z has 35.8k saved which would actually be quite good (no idea if they're using average or median) for ages 18-26 but the report just says "20's". So either the report is miscategorizing generational age ranges or this article is being very loose with labels.
Gen Z is in probably one of the hardest age ranges to generalize right now, which just shines a spotlight on how bullshit it is to lump people this way. Elder zoomers (like myself) have been out...
Gen Z is in probably one of the hardest age ranges to generalize right now, which just shines a spotlight on how bullshit it is to lump people this way. Elder zoomers (like myself) have been out of college and in the workforce for 5 years already – do pollsters expect us to have anything in common with 13-year-olds?
As a Millennial, I've already accepted the reality that I can never retire and will likely die in a desolate home after the power shuts off when I can't pay anymore.
As a Millennial, I've already accepted the reality that I can never retire and will likely die in a desolate home after the power shuts off when I can't pay anymore.
Same. I'm 39 with $100K in my retirement/ savings. I've been told it's a good start, but I can retire for like 1 year. I'm tempted to just spend it and live it up while I can.
Same. I'm 39 with $100K in my retirement/ savings. I've been told it's a good start, but I can retire for like 1 year. I'm tempted to just spend it and live it up while I can.
Anecdote: My dad didn’t start saving in earnest until he was 35. He’s worked as a cider pressman on an apple farm since 1992. Luckily, most of the time he was living in free/cheap farm-owned...
Anecdote: My dad didn’t start saving in earnest until he was 35. He’s worked as a cider pressman on an apple farm since 1992. Luckily, most of the time he was living in free/cheap farm-owned housing, and didn’t have a commute. In 30 years, he saved up around $80,000 in his bank account, and $105,000 in a 401(k). While that isn’t much, he just bought a brand new car (a 2023 Kia Soul, replacing his 2007 Toyota Yaris), and is in the process of buying a new house (a 1 bed, 1 bath 480 sq ft place on half an acre, 15 minutes from downtown Albany, NY; for $85,000). He is a very frugal man, and enjoys relatively simple hobbies (drawing, music, hiking, biking, watching movies). He will retire after harvest is over.
To get the point, you aren’t too late to start saving. You can save more than my dad, and while your retirement won’t be the fanciest, it will likely be comfortable, with plenty of things to keep you occupied and happy.
Feels click-baity. We're talking about 10-25 year olds, who probably aren't going to have a lot of work/life experience to make that sort of determination anyways, but really this is just more...
Feels click-baity. We're talking about 10-25 year olds, who probably aren't going to have a lot of work/life experience to make that sort of determination anyways, but really this is just more evidence that Americans aren't getting proper financial education in school. Between 10-25, the last thing I was thinking about was retirement, though in my case I hope I would've been forgiven for thinking the same thing because my Grandfather actually did retire when he was in his 40s/50s, but it should be more than apparent now that no one who's been in the work force for long is thinking about retirement that young. I'll be lucky if I can retire into my 60s.
And that's what American workers are getting robbed of in this economy that favors investors/businesses over individuals, the chance to actually retire somewhat early and enjoy life.
It’s going to be interesting in 30-50 years. In places and times where people aren’t saving for “retirement” elder care usually falls to the children of the elderly. You get multi-generation...
It’s going to be interesting in 30-50 years.
In places and times where people aren’t saving for “retirement” elder care usually falls to the children of the elderly. You get multi-generation households.
Current millenials/gen z not only aren’t going to have money for retirement, but many also don’t have children (for good reason). What happens when all these people can no longer work, but there’s no safety net to step in?
I agree with the concept of your comment in general, but I think it's even more nuanced and complex (which I'm sure you know, but I'll elaborate,) and I also think we don't need to wait for...
I agree with the concept of your comment in general, but I think it's even more nuanced and complex (which I'm sure you know, but I'll elaborate,) and I also think we don't need to wait for millennials/gen Z to reach retirement age in order to find out what will happen in these scenarios.
Certainly not all, but many millennials and zoomers will have money for retirement. Anecdotally, my boomer parents squandered every chance to have enough money to retire. Meanwhile I, as a millennial, have been horrified by my parents' misuse of money and I have been on track with retirement investments since my early 20s.
I wonder if young peoples' general refusal to have children has not been fully accounted for when calculations are being made to to determine how many millennials and zoomers will be able to save enough for retirement. Having 1-5+ children surely impacted the boomers' rate of retirement savings, which I assume is often referenced when people are trying to predict younger people's rate of saving. My point is, forgoing children leaves you with an extra financial net due to savings, even though the familial safety net may not exist.
This article's condescending tone was especially interesting to me considering that many boomers already won't be able to retire - we don't have to wait 30-40 years to find out what will happen, because it's about to happen right now. Again anecdotally, I'm a millennial whose parents will have to work until they die (or until they become physically unable to work.) So I'm not only grappling with my own ability to retire, but will soon have to face the question of how much I will contribute to my parents and my husband's boomer mother, none of whom have retirement savings. They are almost 70 and still working, no plans to quit, because they have no other options.
Boomers tend to work hard, I'll definitely give them that. But they seem to have a very naive or magical understanding of the world, and many of them have failed to plan despite all the opportunities that were afforded to them. It seems like there are not enough nursing home workers for the coming years, nor enough cash from children of boomers to pay for such services, or to pay for their parents retirement in general.
It's actually quite scary that our whole society is not already asking the question you are asking. Because I'm fairly certain that we all have no fucking clue how to address the issue.
As an elder Millennial who doesn't have children, I'm going to choose to end my life when my quality of life falls too far. Whether that is a peaceful end or not will depend on the systems that...
As an elder Millennial who doesn't have children, I'm going to choose to end my life when my quality of life falls too far. Whether that is a peaceful end or not will depend on the systems that were supposed to care for us all when I'm nearing my end.
Who could confidently say they know what the market is going to look like in 40 years? What an absurd thing to ask of a generation that is still relatively young and inexperienced. Even the...
Who could confidently say they know what the market is going to look like in 40 years? What an absurd thing to ask of a generation that is still relatively young and inexperienced.
Even the “experts” estimation of 3 million dollars works under the assumption that everything remains static for 40 years lol. The reason they can’t give an accurate estimation is because it doesn’t exist. They might as well have also asked “Gen Z” if they plan to retire on Mars.
The amount saved by age graph gets more concerning as the ages go up. I'd love to see the same data for just the group they refer to as "disciplined financial planners".
The amount saved by age graph gets more concerning as the ages go up. I'd love to see the same data for just the group they refer to as "disciplined financial planners".
I don't see how this article even exists. I'm a millennial, but only now am I even finally starting my final career (finished undergrad, professional school, and residency) so now I'm able to actually start assessing my financials and make plans
Maybe I'm just super duper behind, but this article feels like sensationalism. Zoomers haven't lived long enough to have a great concept of what they need to do for retirement I don't think
It strikes me as one of those "hey, look at how naive the youths are" articles. Of course Gen Z doesn't understand the nuances of retirement, they are still new to the workforce in general and gaining life experience. What should be more eye opening is the discrepancy between how much the older generations think they need to retire and how much they actually saved, considering how much closer they are to actually retiring.
That's exactly what I'm wondering too. Is it really just The Youths that don't understand how much they need for retirement? Also what percentage of the older groups are still expecting pensions, and is that reflected in the data?
The figures they were using to estimate a need for 4m for a comfortable retirement are also incredibly conservative; they assume 3% inflation and 6% growth, which means just 3% over inflation. This would be historically poor over a 40 year period.
If the current trend lines with regards to geopolitical stability don’t improve we might see 6% average nominal returns as a historical artifact.
Granted, at some point the entire financial system is fucked so it’s probably moot.
Is it weird that this is my general philosophy towards retirement planning? Basically, make sure I'm saving way more than most people in my generation, and index invest. If this doesn't work for me, than it didn't work for anyone else either, so we're all fucked together anyway, and there's nothing better I could have done.
It's extremely rare that I find any fund that outperforms S&P 500 ETFs long term (decade over decade). If anyone knows one, feel free to share it.
Nah that's as much as anyone can do. I think in past generations people were just indifferent to/reconciled to the fact that life was unpredictable and there's only so much you can do about it.
We're in this Pax Americana of a historic era of sustained economic growth and general peace (in the developed world) which makes it hard to accept that things just don't feel so stable anymore.
My Grandparents seemed to believe in the retirement fairy. They were extremely lucky my Grandmother got a pretty good pension. As it was, they couldn't really afford a nursing home. My approach is save as much as I can and pray since pensions are disappearing and social security may as well.
Social Security will only disappear if people want it to. There is no solvency crisis. The worst case scenario is some combination of a slightly higher contribution rate, much higher cap on income, and either slightly lower payouts or slightly higher retirement age.
The finance industry likes to fearmonger about SS disappearing because it makes people put their money with these private pensions and money market funds and eroded political support for the Social Security program. It’s a PsyOp.
I question how scientific a survey managed by Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company is. This seems like a narrative being planted to sell parents of Zoomers life insurance policies.
But, like you said, the youngest Zoomers are still teenagers. They don't have any concept of how life-spans actually pan out. Anything after 30 is so far away they can't even see it.
I'm in my late 30s and I think only over the past 4 or 5 years have I felt like I was in a position to be making longer-term plans financially. That Great Recession was a real doozy. But somehow, Vanguard's retirement projections on my 401k keep telling me I'll be pulling down a monthly income that is barely 15% lower than my actual monthly income right now, which makes absolutely no sense to me. I think they're being a bit too rosy and using a model that exaggerates the upside potential.
Yeah. They say that gen z expects to retire at 60, then say 2 out of 5 expects to live to 100, and then extrapolate that to being a whole generation planning for a 40 year retirement. Maybe someone can help me, but reading through this link and the source it links to, I cannot find the specific number that backs up Gen Z planning to retire at 60.
Edit: spelling
Managed by Northwestern Mutual and only 2,740 respondents. Between the low number and Northwestern Mutual customers generally being not financially savvy, I hold some hope this isn't actually super representative.
2740 responses seems pretty good to me. That's more than any number on this chart.
The bias in sampling might be significant, but I'd think just having any kind of retirement/investment account would select for those who are more knowledgeable about retirement savings, just by excluding those who have no accounts.
Obviously the advice from the financial planning company is to seek out a financial advisor, so there's that bias, but I don't see why the data would be wildly inaccurate. People on average are bad at retirement planning.
I'm OK at retirement planning but terrible at statistics. Thanks for sharing that link - I definitely learned something! At ~250 million adult Americans that would put this survey at a little under 10% margin of error.
Yeah so personally I view "retirement" less as a "I'm no longer working a job" thing and more of a "I am no longer focusing on career ambitions and building financial assets." I do not expect to be able to truly retire and I'm not sure I'd be particularly happy with nothing to do if I did.
But if I'm at a place where the lifestyle expenses are low because debts are cleared, I have a place to live (either owned outright with manageable maintenance expenses or low rent), and the kids are financially independent then I think I'd be content to just do some irregular consulting type of thing and not have to worry about the size of the paycheck or career progression as much.
This is basically what I'm expecting as well. I've taught math for years, up through the high school level. There's a part of me that wants to retire from industry and teach once we've cleared our debt (house predominantly).
Sadly all those jobs we assume to be fulfilling in that way are kind of miserable and steadily enshittifying from what I've heard.
I believe you are right, but there is an important distinction in what we see regarding what our educators get as compensation, and what I'm saying. I'm not going to care what a [substitute] teacher's salary is when I'm 65 and semi-retired.
The intention is that I'm supplementing my retirement money by working and doing something that benefits society without worrying about my financial situation.
Dude, those of us in the middle of the pack are struggling to get enough money to pay rent/mortgage. In my area, a one-bedroom is $2,500 per month. Which, if I'm making $30/hour leaves me $2,300 to pay for power, water, internet (so I can DO my job), gas for my car, groceries, and the occasional night out. Leaves me with nothing. Can't save for shit, and $30/hr ain't bad. Except it now is because it isn't sustainable. Glad you've been successful, but most of us are struggling to get anything.
Have you been in the job market lately? I've received hundreds of emails and calls for a job that didn't even exist. Such an awful feeling when you're unemployed and just want something, ANYTHING, to bring in more than $440 a week on unemployment. Hell, disability pays better at $1,440 every two weeks which does nothing. My mortgage is $1,700/mo with an HOA fee of $500/mo, so I have little left to even eat. I'm disabled and need protein to help build my strength, but $0.99 pot pies cannot provide that.
in my area 30/hr 40/wk leaves 4k. 2k goes to rent, 1k goes to car,gas,ins,utils,food. 1k left to save assuming nothing bad happens. 8 years ago it would have been more like 4k - 1k - .5k leaving 2.5k. Surviving on less than 4k a month is... tough.
Then we get these jerks blabbing on about how nobody wants to work. Let me tell you, I'd rather turn down a job that pays crap for my 15+ years of experience and live in a homeless shelter and visit the local food bank to eat.
Exactly the old zoomers are what, early twenties? Almost no one is thinking retirement at that age.
I started my Roth and 401k at 24, and I felt like I had waited too long. You really need to start putting away money when you first enter the workforce if you want a good chance at retirement. I'm lucky to have a career that is probably not going to disappear (I hope) before I retire or die, but there is a growing number of jobs that won't exist in 20 years. I think job security is mostly a thing of the past, so you need to start saving early and put as much away as possible.
That's just my feelings on it. I also don't trust the stability of the US dollar, so I also believe in diversifying in physical commodities. I've experienced the loss of 80% of my net worth in market crashes, so I know how unpredictable saving for the future can be.
This article feels like it takes on a bit of a sensational spin just to dunk on Gen Zs...
40% of Gen Z think they'll live to 100, but... 60% don't? As well, the % (40/60) is the exact same for the Millennials polled, too? Plus, according to the study, "Millennials and Gen Xers plan to work to age 63 and 65, respectively." So, someone could have just as easily written the title "Millennials are expecting a 37-year retirement. Good luck, experts say." The snark towards Gen Z feels... unnecessary?
Plus like. I imagine age plays a factor? I'm sure every generation had more lofty ambitions in their 20s than they did in their 40s, after which their path in life became more set in stone. The older generations are closer to retirement, and there's less uncertainty for them to predict. They have a better idea of how things are going to play out?
I just don't see how you can craft this sort of narrative from just this poll. Idk... this just feels like clickbait to me.
I feel like there's a lot of news in the media to cause generational animosity. Millennials hating boomers, gen Z being lazy, gen X completely forgotten (as usual).
Did everyone forget that the boomers didn't like their parent's generation, the silent generation, either? Half the music out of the 60s was about rebellion.
Sometimes I get the feeling it's all just to distract from the larger issue: wealth inequality.
Occam’s razor is that people just like to read these kinds of articles, so sites keep publishing them. Generations complaining about each other is a mainstay in recorded human history, from antiquity to today.
Just to add on to everyone seemingly disliking this article:
I can't find a single mention of which age range they defined as "Gen Z", which is really important for interpreting data in the early working years. The full report just says "A full methodology is available." but I can't find it anywhere.
Yahoo says Gen Z has 35.8k saved which would actually be quite good (no idea if they're using average or median) for ages 18-26 but the report just says "20's". So either the report is miscategorizing generational age ranges or this article is being very loose with labels.
Gen Z is in probably one of the hardest age ranges to generalize right now, which just shines a spotlight on how bullshit it is to lump people this way. Elder zoomers (like myself) have been out of college and in the workforce for 5 years already – do pollsters expect us to have anything in common with 13-year-olds?
As a Millennial, I've already accepted the reality that I can never retire and will likely die in a desolate home after the power shuts off when I can't pay anymore.
Get solar panels. Then you will die destitute, but with power.
Same. I'm 39 with $100K in my retirement/ savings. I've been told it's a good start, but I can retire for like 1 year. I'm tempted to just spend it and live it up while I can.
Anecdote: My dad didn’t start saving in earnest until he was 35. He’s worked as a cider pressman on an apple farm since 1992. Luckily, most of the time he was living in free/cheap farm-owned housing, and didn’t have a commute. In 30 years, he saved up around $80,000 in his bank account, and $105,000 in a 401(k). While that isn’t much, he just bought a brand new car (a 2023 Kia Soul, replacing his 2007 Toyota Yaris), and is in the process of buying a new house (a 1 bed, 1 bath 480 sq ft place on half an acre, 15 minutes from downtown Albany, NY; for $85,000). He is a very frugal man, and enjoys relatively simple hobbies (drawing, music, hiking, biking, watching movies). He will retire after harvest is over.
To get the point, you aren’t too late to start saving. You can save more than my dad, and while your retirement won’t be the fanciest, it will likely be comfortable, with plenty of things to keep you occupied and happy.
Feels click-baity. We're talking about 10-25 year olds, who probably aren't going to have a lot of work/life experience to make that sort of determination anyways, but really this is just more evidence that Americans aren't getting proper financial education in school. Between 10-25, the last thing I was thinking about was retirement, though in my case I hope I would've been forgiven for thinking the same thing because my Grandfather actually did retire when he was in his 40s/50s, but it should be more than apparent now that no one who's been in the work force for long is thinking about retirement that young. I'll be lucky if I can retire into my 60s.
And that's what American workers are getting robbed of in this economy that favors investors/businesses over individuals, the chance to actually retire somewhat early and enjoy life.
It’s going to be interesting in 30-50 years.
In places and times where people aren’t saving for “retirement” elder care usually falls to the children of the elderly. You get multi-generation households.
Current millenials/gen z not only aren’t going to have money for retirement, but many also don’t have children (for good reason). What happens when all these people can no longer work, but there’s no safety net to step in?
I agree with the concept of your comment in general, but I think it's even more nuanced and complex (which I'm sure you know, but I'll elaborate,) and I also think we don't need to wait for millennials/gen Z to reach retirement age in order to find out what will happen in these scenarios.
Certainly not all, but many millennials and zoomers will have money for retirement. Anecdotally, my boomer parents squandered every chance to have enough money to retire. Meanwhile I, as a millennial, have been horrified by my parents' misuse of money and I have been on track with retirement investments since my early 20s.
I wonder if young peoples' general refusal to have children has not been fully accounted for when calculations are being made to to determine how many millennials and zoomers will be able to save enough for retirement. Having 1-5+ children surely impacted the boomers' rate of retirement savings, which I assume is often referenced when people are trying to predict younger people's rate of saving. My point is, forgoing children leaves you with an extra financial net due to savings, even though the familial safety net may not exist.
This article's condescending tone was especially interesting to me considering that many boomers already won't be able to retire - we don't have to wait 30-40 years to find out what will happen, because it's about to happen right now. Again anecdotally, I'm a millennial whose parents will have to work until they die (or until they become physically unable to work.) So I'm not only grappling with my own ability to retire, but will soon have to face the question of how much I will contribute to my parents and my husband's boomer mother, none of whom have retirement savings. They are almost 70 and still working, no plans to quit, because they have no other options.
Boomers tend to work hard, I'll definitely give them that. But they seem to have a very naive or magical understanding of the world, and many of them have failed to plan despite all the opportunities that were afforded to them. It seems like there are not enough nursing home workers for the coming years, nor enough cash from children of boomers to pay for such services, or to pay for their parents retirement in general.
It's actually quite scary that our whole society is not already asking the question you are asking. Because I'm fairly certain that we all have no fucking clue how to address the issue.
As an elder Millennial who doesn't have children, I'm going to choose to end my life when my quality of life falls too far. Whether that is a peaceful end or not will depend on the systems that were supposed to care for us all when I'm nearing my end.
In the U.S., assuming nothing changes? A lot more elderly folks in overcrowded, understaffed Medicaid nursing/retirement homes.
Who could confidently say they know what the market is going to look like in 40 years? What an absurd thing to ask of a generation that is still relatively young and inexperienced.
Even the “experts” estimation of 3 million dollars works under the assumption that everything remains static for 40 years lol. The reason they can’t give an accurate estimation is because it doesn’t exist. They might as well have also asked “Gen Z” if they plan to retire on Mars.
The amount saved by age graph gets more concerning as the ages go up. I'd love to see the same data for just the group they refer to as "disciplined financial planners".
I feel like a 40 year retirement to any generation is wishful thinkiing unless you were lucky and got into a pension job at a young age.
Yeah that is unrealistic AF