Those Retirement Dreams? Sorry, Generation X

For Generation X, the group born between 1965 and 1980, now should be the time when its members are heading into the peak of their careers or just starting to wind those careers down, with their golden years stretched out before them. But a trio of recent stories shows red flags dotting the landscape for this demographic.

• First up, an overarching piece from Quartz on the "middle child generation" and its economic woes, worsened by the recent stock market erraticism that has sent retirement savings plunging. To make matters worse, this generation—one that's already endured a recession in the early '90s, the dot-com bust, the Great Recession of 2008-09, and the pandemic—has seen struggles in the workplace amid mass layoffs and more and more outsourced and automated jobs. "In 2009 I left my full-time job and found plenty of freelance gigs. I had the energy to hustle," says one 50-year-old Maryland marketing pro. "I won't always. That's how this economic downturn feels a little more foreboding."

• There's more on increasingly obsolete careers in the New York Times, which notes "it's the end of work as we knew it." The article focuses on how Gen Xers have found themselves in a world they don't fully recognize, forced to compete for a paycheck against less-experienced (i.e., cheaper) online influencers and artificial intelligence. Especially affected are folks in creative fields like publishing, photography, and advertising. "My peers, friends, and I continue to navigate the unforeseen obsolescence of the career paths we chose in our early 20s," says a 53-year-old Los Angeles film director. "The skills you cultivated, the craft you honed—it's just gone. It's startling."
• Finally, a recent piece from Bloomberg takes a deeper look at the economic impact particular to Gen X, noting the financial pressures they're facing due to aging parents, kids still in college, and more health-care costs than they used to have. The outlet reports that, per a Harris Poll survey, only 43% of Gen Xers say they can afford to retire at 65; 38% say they don't think they'll ever be able to retire. "Generation X is without a doubt the most stressed-out generation about retirement," says David Blanchett, head of retirement research for PGIM DC Solutions. "The way we plan for retirement is structurally changing, with more personal responsibility" due to the disappearance of pensions, "and Gen X was the first generation to have to deal with that on their own."

More here, here, and here. (More Generation X stories.)