An Unexpected Generation Says It’s Most Prepared for Retirement

When retirement finally rolls around, will you be ready?

Northwestern Mutual surveyed 4,588 adults for its 2024 Planning & Progress Study and found that, overall, Americans feel pretty optimistic about amassing a nest egg that will see them through their golden years.

However, some Americans are more worried about the state of their savings. In fact, more than half of the members of one generation feel like they will come up short when the time to quit working arrives.

The generations also differ in terms of how long they expect to work before retiring.

Take a look at how the following four generations feel about their retirement prospects and see if your concerns match those of your peers.

Generation Z

Respondents in this generation who said they expect to be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes: 64%

Age to which respondents in this generation plan to work: 60, on average

Youth is a time for optimism, and members of Generation Z are the most confident that they will be financially ready for retirement. They also expect to retire younger, on average, than members of any other generation.

Perhaps Generation Z is feeling good about its retirement prospects because it is doing such a great job of managing money, as we reported in “Which Generation Has the Most Super Savers?”

Millennials

Respondents in this generation who said they expect to be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes: 56%

Age to which respondents in this generation plan to work: 64, on average

Millennials are a bit less optimistic about their retirement prospects than members of Generation Z. But they still feel pretty good about their ability to save enough for a comfortable retirement.

In fact, millennials are probably more worried about their parents’ financial status than their own, as we noted in “8 Tips Millennials Wish Their Parents Would Follow.”

Generation X

Respondents in this generation who said they expect to be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes: 48%

Age to which respondents in this generation plan to work: 67, on average

Maybe Generation X should be renamed “Generation Anxious.” Less than half of people surveyed in this generation expect they will be financially ready for retirement when it arrives in the not-so-distant future.

Those fear may be justified, as we noted in “As the Sun Sets on Gen X Careers, Dark Clouds Gather.”

Baby boomers (and older)

Respondents in this generation who said they expect to be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes: 49%

Age to which respondents in this generation plan to work: 72, on average

Older workers fall somewhere between millennials and members of Generation X in terms of their optimism about retirement savings. (Northwestern Mutual notes that this category only includes people in this age group who have not yet retired.)

Many already are in their 60s and beyond so it is no surprise that people in this age cohort expect to work later into life than members of any other generation.

For more about the retirement prospects for this group of Americans, check out:

• “Baby Boomers’ 9 Greatest Fears About Retirement“
• “6 Money Moves Every Baby Boomer Must Make“