Millennials Think They Have It Bad? Generation X Has It Worse

“We both have good jobs and are better off than a lot of people but never seem to get to the point where we can build our savings,” O’Neill says. “And because of our student debt, I don’t have the option to stop working while my kids are young even though day care costs are so high.”

No Raises

While the stock market has rebounded, real wages, after factoring in inflation, haven’t improved for most employees since before the recession, according to the Economic Policy Institute. Twenty-three percent of Gen Xers received no raise and 26 percent just a 1 or 2 percent bump in the past twelve months. Even millennials got more.

Gen Xers are what economists call a sandwich class -- squeezed between raising their kids and caring for aging parents. Forty percent have children under 18 and about one- quarter have a parent or another relative living in their households, Northwestern Mutual’s survey found.

“Aside from weathering a number of economic cycles, this group is juggling home mortgages, educational debt and lifestyle needs,” said Rebekah Barsch, vice president of financial planning at Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual.

Life Crisis

That’s left 37 percent of Gen Xers feeling “not at all or not very comfortable” about being on track to meet their financial goals, compared with 22 percent of millennials, according to a March survey by T. Rowe Price of more than 5,000 Americans. Just 6 percent of Gen Xers saved 15 to 19 percent of their incomes in 401(k) plans in the past 12 months, the amount recommended by many financial planners, compared with 8 percent of millennials and 10 percent of baby boomers.

A single life crisis can deplete whatever retirement savings Gen Xers have accumulated.

Barry Andersson built his own video and film direction company, Deodand Entertainment, and saved for retirement by acquiring a rental property that has appreciated in value in the last decade. Then he and his wife divorced after 16 years, and she got the property in the settlement.

Now 37, Andersson, who lives in Minneapolis and has two school-age children, doubts he’ll be able to accumulate retirement savings until he’s 43 and no longer supporting his ex-wife.

“I probably won’t ever get to retire,” says Andersson, who still feels lucky he loves his work. “We’re the first generation that isn’t going to do as well as our parents did.”