Spend today, plan for retirement tomorrow is an attitude shared by Americans of all generations, but to a lesser degree by older baby boomers.
Going into 2020, more than one-third of baby boomers near retirement age have not done any financial planning within the past two years, according to a survey sponsored by the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), and more than half (59%) of millennials haven’t considered their options for retirement.
The survey of more than 2,000 adults, which assessed the financial health of Americans, found that stress around finances transcends generational differences. In fact, 74% of respondents overall said that they want a financial planning do-over.
Respondents across generations were consistent in their goals regarding money, which included planning for retirement (61%), achieving greater savings (52%), and paying off debts (50%). Yet, their priorities for planning differed by age and proximity to retirement.
For example, millennials put a higher emphasis on increased savings (59%), with one in three worried they will need to support their parents financially. Meanwhile, planning for retirement was top of mind for 69% of boomers.
“As we move into a new decade, consumers continue to be pessimistic about their retirement options, with almost half of all respondents lacking confidence in Social Security,” said Geoffrey Brown, CEO of NAPFA, in released comments. “More than one-third of millennials and Gen Xers don’t think they’ll ever be able to retire.”
NAPFA commissioned the online survey of 2,003 U.S. adults, ages 22-64, from July 22-24, 2019. The survey was broken down by generation: Gen Z, age 22 (55 participants; millennials, ages 23-38 (829 participants); Gen X, ages 39-54 (740 participants; and baby boomers, ages 55-64 (379).