Retirement worries aren’t confined to the elderly.
Every generation of working Americans is expressing unease about their retirement prospects, according to a survey from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit.
Baby boomers, Generation Xers and millennials felt like they were behind in their retirement savings—and reported account balances low enough to justify their fears, according to the 17th Annual Transamerica Retirement Survey released last week.
Forty-five percent of the baby boomers—those born between 1946 and 1964—said that they expect a decrease in their standard of living when they retire.
The U.S. median household savings among baby boomers is around $147,000, according to Transamerica.
Eighty-seven percent of baby boomers believe that Social Security will be a source of retirement income, with 34 percent expecting it to be their primary source of income.
Baby boomers also expect to derive income from their retirement accounts—78 percent of baby boomers said that they expect income from a 401(k), 403(b) or IRA, while just 33 percent expect income from a traditional pension plan.
Eighty-three percent of Generation Xers said that their generation will have a more difficult time achieving financial security than their parents did. Transamerica defines Generation X as those born between 1964 and 1978.
The median total household retirement savings for Generation X is around $69,000—Gen X respondents reported starting to save for retirement at a median age of 28 and contribute a median of 7 percent of their annual pay to their retirement accounts.
Generation X has sapped much of its own retirement prospects: 30 percent of Generation X retirement plan participants have taken a loan or early withdrawal from their retirement accounts, according to the survey. As a result, just 12 percent of the Gen X respondents said they were confident that they would be able to fully retire with a comfortable lifestyle.