Generation X’ers Retirement Fears Grow as Economy Slowly Recovers

Americans fear that they will not have enough financial resources to maintain their lifestyle after their working years, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey.

About four out of 10 adults, nearly 38 percent of Americans, fear that they will not be able to sustain a comfortable lifestyle after they retire. Americans between the ages of 35 to 44 are leading the country in retirement fears.

Younger people and older people are more hopeful that their savings will last them after they retire. However, those good feelings don’t extend to the middle-aged set, as 53 percent of the surveyed respondents say they feel less confident about being able to live well after they stop working.

Their fears can be attributed to the decline in wage earnings during the recession and post-recession recovery. Gen. X’ers experienced a decline in their median wealth by $5,270 between 2001 to 2010. The median wealth for the AARP set grew by 2 percent during the same time frame.

The middle-aged group also experienced a decline in wealth because the collapse of the housing market, their median home equity — the housing wealth indicator — was cut by 52 percent.

Click here for the full survey.