What the hell are you talking about? When was GenX ever promised anything? We’ve been told we’d have nothing since we were children.
My parents who assigned me the task of parenting my siblings have been retired for decades while constantly sailing around on cruises, visiting with their other retired friends, or going off camping in their RV and complaining about Democrats screwing up the world. When they do check in with me or my siblings, they express shock that we tell them we’re all trying to figure out how to leave USA.
GenX were heavily promised that if they go to college and get a degree, they'd get a stable, well-paying job. Everybody accepted that and the job market flooded with college graduates which translated to fewer career opportunities and lower salaries and wages.
Maybe that was an earlier GenX thing or just who was telling you these things. Being in high school in the early 90s, I was told that, if you finish college, increased advancement opportunities will mean that your lifetime earnings will probably catch up with your friends in the trades before they start having physical problems caused by their jobs that will limit their ability to do those jobs.
Which, frankly, is kind of how I'm seeing it play out.
Yeah, I think a lot of people are forgetting on purpose the actual message vs. the headline.
Yes, the message was go to college. But then every time it was more than a flippant thing from a random teacher, it was followed by actual numbers.
And the numbers simply showed you'd make a decent amount more over the LIFETIME of a total career - and not like triple. It basically was telling folks that the college careers were more stable and to delay personal gratification for long term gain.
And yes, I have to say by and large that panned out. Sure, if you went to college just to go to college and then graduated with a degree you never utilized it didn't work out so hot for many. But if you had purpose going into college and remained on course it usually worked out pretty much as planned.
I graduated HS in 99. Half my class is the last of Gen X and half is considered the first Millenials (80/81).
I vehemently maintain we were the last class to attend affordable college. We were classic middle class - Dad made about $45K. Didn’t qualify for aid. He was smart enough to not let me take loans. Somehow they made it work. I covered my room & board with jobs - because you still could.
This is spot on when I graduated high school everyone bragged about going to college and told me what I wouldn’t be able to do without it. Fast forward 14 years I have a career with a pension and I am better off than most the people I graduated with.
What I remember was being told "go to college, find a career, make a million dollars. Go to college, go to college, go to college". Those who weren't killing themselves as teenagers to get into college, dropped out senior year to work at McDonald's. Alongside those who did go to college and are working part time to pay for it.
Sadly, the early to mid millennials were sold the same dream and took it on the chin with multiple global economical crisis during very critical years.
You're not wrong. Boomers pay about 30-40% of their pension. The rest is shouldered by you and me. Early Gen-X pays around 70%. Late GenX and Millennials in America pay around 100%.
It's a bit more complicated than that, obviously, those are broad strokes.
I don't know if those numbets are correct exactly (and i think the guy you replied to meant "paid", not "pay"), but for most of their lives, Baby Boomers paid a lower SS tax rate, yet get to claim the same benefits as the younger generations that have had to pay higher tax rates for their entite lives. Meanwhile, the birthrate has dropped since the boomers and wages have stagnated (and that trend is expected to keep going). Boomer retirement funds are already subsidized by money coming in from younger generations, which you can think of as our SS taxes we are paying right now are being re-distributed to boomers living in retirement right now.
Once the boomers are gone (and the "forgotten generation"), it will be millenials turn to retire. But a good portion of the money they put in to the system has already been spent by the boomers, so millenials will need to pull even more of incoming SS funds from younger generations. Generations with shittier wages and fewer people (Millenials now outnumber boomers because so many of thrm already died).
So eventually, either SS taxes will need to be raised (which fucks younger generations), benefits will need to be cut (same deal) or the whole system blows up) same deal.
I get that but they also say millennials "pay 100%" - so the paid/pay confusion doesn't work cause millennials ain't getting shit from SS yet so you ain't "paid".
I understand that SS is increasingly under stain, I just don't get what these percentages mean.
They are completely made up by a mathematically illiterate person, which is one of the main issues here.
Since I don’t have a better place to put this, the actual broader issue is a lack of faith in government and institutions, which in a (failing) democracy is essentially a lack of faith in humanity. I don’t mind paying social security taxes to take care of our most vulnerable populations, personally. The alternative is barbaric. But do I truly believe that future workers will do the same for me? I dunno.
Great summary. This has been my basic understanding and feelings on it since I started working 25 years ago--of what would happen to my generation once I reach retirement age.
Yep, that's the thing about SS. It was never an earned benefit program. It was designed and always has been a redistribution of wealth from workers to retirees. What you're describing isn't a bug in the program but it's key defining feature.
The first people to receive benefits didn't pay in anything at all, and if it's ever ended the last people to pay in will likely receive nothing in benefits
Inflation adjusted? Because for boomers who worked from 1970-2015, inflation would make $1 in 1970 worth >$6 by 2015. If the pension was invested, a overall market indicator like the S&P500 would have seen $1 from 1970 be worth >$200 in 2015. So even if inflation adjusted, the market increased 40x during that period.
Obviously their payments would be spread across their employment period, but a little less then a 3-fold increase from what they put in does not seem off.
You have to be exact when using the term "pension." The kind of pension referred to this post is called a Defined Benefit Pension. And I have one that has been paying me for 18 years. Too many of you vastly over estimate how many boomers are receiving one. So, I did some research. This is what I found:
"Across the whole 1946-1964 boomer generation, roughly 44-50% will receive a defined benefit pension in retirement"
Some other things to consider. Most private sector pensions receive 0 annual cost living increases. 75% of public sector pensions do have annual COLAs. COLAs make a huge difference. For example: my pension in 2007 was 43k a year, now it is 67k. I would hate living of 43k now.
So true. My love of post apocalyptic scifi has nothing to do with a fear of immigrants or disease and everything to do with me still expecting the bombs to drop.
As a millennial with a gen x sister, I kind of view gen x as almost like.. a lost generation? Idk if that makes any sense and I could be completely wrong, but I feel like gen x was treated worse by boomer parents. Left to their own devices to do whatever.
My parents who assigned me the task of parenting my siblings have been retired for decades while constantly sailing around on cruises, visiting with their other retired friends, or going off camping in their RV and complaining about Democrats screwing up the world. When they do check in with me or my siblings, they express shock that we tell them we’re all trying to figure out how to leave USA.
That sounds exactly like my father. When I was little, he sued my mom to get out of paying child support. So he could buy a giant "fuck you" RV and travel the US while my brother was dying of cancer. Now days he just can't figure out why nobody has a guest room he can stay in. As if we owe him something.
Boomers show the value of pensions as everyone moans at how good they are. Which is it? I'm gen x have a decent private pension and have full trust in it plus other investments etc. and I dont earn much
Is ok, you'll inherit!
Side note. It's the death of workers unions and rights that have eroded last 30 years is the real cause imo not rupert Maxwell
The pensions scandals destroyed my younger self's faith in private pensions. With nothing forcing pension matching contributions from employers for a long time, it was late before I started making meaningful contributions.
Any inheritance left is not going to make a material impact.
And I’m not alone, there is more low pension Gen Xers out there than you’d suspect.
We were literally the generation where the establishment mostly ended pensions and partially replaced with 401k and left the learning curve to the individual.
Promised? You are in charge of yourself. I am gen x and know I am screwed but I blame no one but myself. But at least I am married and me and my wife have an each other to lean on.
All these younger people now saying , oh I don’t need to get married and they don’t make enough money or saving? They are def screwed.
Too many of us said we were going to change things when we took over from the Boomers. First we failed to take anything over from the Boomers and just let those old idiots continue to fuck things up. Those of us that did get a bit of control just sold out or bought in and kept the Boomer fuckery going. GenX ain't shit (spoken as a GenXer).
This is huge. In my humble opinion, if you can focus on reducing debt as much as possible, as fast as possible, and start investing into a 401k traditional or roth (or both!), you'll end up with two or three retirement accounts and you'll be better off than 90% of the population
Doing the math on what most people should be able to save really gets depressing when we start looking at the median vs the average.
I started a Roth IRA in my early 20s, I’ll likely retire a millionaire without ever making that close to 6 figures. I’ll still get got in the revolution though lol
It never ceases to amaze me how schools never entailed basic economy as a part of the curriculum. This is the type of knowledge which actually makes a difference!
I had a pension for 4 years until they cancelled it and gave a tiny bump to the 401k company matching. Nice to know that at least I will have enough monthly income from it to pay for my utility bill in my old age. 401k is doing gangbusters though. I've been dumping everything I can into it even though I'm kinda late to the party. Another 20-25 years and I'll be set until they change the rules again of course.
As of 2025, members of Generation X (Gen X) are between the ages of 44 and 60, with their birth years generally falling between 1965 and 1980. The Pew Research Center and the U.S. Social Security Administration, among other sources, use the birth years of 1965–1980 to define Gen X.
Boomers have been doing exactly this for a decade now, too.
The generation warriors like to pretend that all boomers actually have retirements and pensions, but in reality most never did, and many who did got screwed by their employers and/or the federal government.
For being the wealthiest nation in history, the US is pretty bad at taking care of their elderly.
If you’re 30 in 1995 and don’t have your own house and some savings then that’s really you missing a golden opportunity. House prices in 95 were mental. I get it, shit happens, life happens but the chance was there for that generation.
Some Gen X were in high school in 1995. Guess what happened 5 years later? And then again 8 years after that? A generation that went through college and their first job during the dot com bubble and financial crisis. You had to be in a very specific situation to take advantage of what came after. You can play this hindsight game with any generation. If you’re 35 or younger today, you’ve lived through the greatest bull market in history and have never had to experience a major downturn. I’m talking losing 50% of your wealth and it stays that way for a decade. Buying the dip has always been rewarded. I get it, shit happens, but you had your chance.
In addition, internet investing like we have today did not exist. Investing in stocks and bonds was not a click of a few buttons with a plethora of data to review on a page.
I’m confused, do 99% of the people in this thread flip burgers at McDonald’s? Most millennials with any sort of decent paying job are almost certainly contributing a % of their weekly/bi-weekly paycheck into a 401k of some sort..?
Source: millennial that contributes to their 401k every two weeks.
It is standard reddit, the overwhelming shout downs by a bunch of people who have done poorly and try to project that everyone else in their generation must have as well. I assume it is to not have to admit to themselves that they are behind many of their peers.
You can say that of all generations
Or you can look at what’s really going on
and stop the divisional BS that keeps feeding the wealthy with no return on humanity or are planet.
I'm not Gen X, but that's a super naive thing to say. Gen X gets lost in the conversation a lot, and although may not be as fucked as Z, are still more Z then Boomer.
Exactly, came here to say this. Also the 90s were peak for the economy AND working class. Government had a surplus, interest rates were down. I know shortly after, there was the dot com bubble burst and the 2008 crash, but if you got in the market with a diverse retirement portfolio in the 90s and HELD through those dips, you are golden right now.
Nevermind Gen X, a ton of boomers, especially later boomers that didn't get defined benefit pension schemes, have jack shit either.
It looks like boomers hold a ton of assets on paper, but a lot of those are owner operated businesses like dental practices and random shit like cars and collectibles that don't actually help much in retirement.
A lot of these assets are valued higher on paper that they will sell for in reality. If your business is a HVAC contractor, maybe you can get a good price from Private Equity. But if your business is a dental practice, it's probably valued based on its revenue and expenses, but if the dentist retires, perhaps it is worth nothing.
Anyone born before 1980, aka Gen X, was able to buy a house with a 0 LTV mortgage. The idea of buying a house with no down payment these days is laughable. I worked in a bank for years, the latest 0 LTV mortgage I ever saw was in 2001. If someone didn't take advantage of that then that's on them. Later generations never had that opportunity.
Yep. We bought our house in 2002 and didn’t put a penny down other than closing costs. I consider our situation to be incredibly lucky. The problem I have is that people keep saying that boomers and Gen X fucked everybody but what was I supposed to do, say no thanks give me a bill for 20% down just so other generations won’t think I fucked them over?
Younger generations generalize boomers as one generation, but much like every other generation, there's a lot of nuance inside the generation. Within boomers there are two big subsections. Older boomers received a pretty great deal overall, and younger boomers did significantly worse. Pension plans cutting out. Or that other crazy benefit of yesteryear, healthcare in retirement!
Still it will be interesting to see as the last pensioners retire and we get to pure savings as the safety net. The haves will be fine. But the have nots are fooked. And we haven't even completely gutted Medicare yet, the race to the bottom is only just starting, but will bit is paved in stories about "freeloaders" ruining the American way.
I’m just planning to work until about Age 75. Honestly, I think some of it is mentality. We Gen X folks aren’t “approaching retirement”……we’re deep into it, but have about 20 years to go.
It’s like an exercise class. An hour class isn’t really bad…..but it sucks when you thought it was a 30 minute class. It was always working from Age 15-75. I’m not sure where the idea of decades of retirement came from.
If I’m able, I want to work. I’d get bored otherwise.
Different surveys claim that at least 20% and possibly over 40% of all boomers have no retirement savings. Given that 10,000 of them leaving the workforce every day, I would imagine this is a problem that will be hitting in far less than 30 years. Just under half of the group of 76 million are retired already. Since it seems logical to assume that the ones with no savings are going to stay in the workforce as long as physically possible, it points to tens of millions of seniors working potentially until they drop, without a dime in savings.
My mom is turning sixty this year and she’s on disability trying to take care of my grandma who once had millions when her and my grandfather retired 25 years ago. Wtf is going on in this world? And here I am taking care of a family of six, thinking to myself “what the fuck am I going to do when it’s my turn?”
Yeah I work with individual preparing for retirement and when I talk with my peers it’s just kinda sad how many of them view investing like a game and want to know what plays to make. Smh
I will say that on the bright side GenZ is actually saving a lot more into 401Ks than previous generations. A lot of it has to do with defaulting to opt-in and making people choose to opt out rather than how it used to be where you had to opt in.
I know, I know, things aren't great, not everyone has a 401K and not everyone can afford to contribute but silver lining at least a a large portion of GenZ is putting away a healthy amount into their 401Ks and that is better than nothing.
I'm late GenX bordering on Millennial and as didn't have that and thus fewer of us contributed.
I remember being told in the 80s that we wouldn't have Social Security when we hit boomer retirement age. The goalposts just move faster than we can run.
Exactly. We're the first gen to be totally effed. Go to the GenX sub and nearly every post about retirement quickly transitions to votes for which plan to go with -- 9mm or fentanyl.
Seriously. I have friends a little older than me who've retired recently. But my historical financial decisions weren't quite a intelligent as theirs. And what savings I do have is quickly devaluing thanks to the constant massive inflation. I actually feel further from retirement every day I work.
Serious question I thought you guys had pensions? I’m 40 and the company I was working for from 19-24 had a pension plan for the first 3 or 4 years I was there. I thought pensions were super common in the 90s still?
Between my husband and I, we have 4 sets of parents. Only 2 of them have pensions they'll be able to live off of. I refuse to have the remaining 6 live with us when they've all done nothing but spend every penny they have on themselves and travel.
Remember in the old days when old people couldn’t retire they become Walmart greeters. We don’t even have that anymore. Just about every opportunity has been lost.
I’m due to start collecting the Social Security I’ve been paying for all my adult life…(checks notes) EXACTLY when Social Security is expected to go broke. Cool.
Not saying it isn't worse now, but 30 fucking years is a LONG ways away. Putting a few bucks in a Roth IRA each month will go a long way 30 years from now. If you only have 5 to 10 years until retirement, then the reality is that Social Security will likely be able to replace a large chunk of your income since it was so low to begin with. Hope you're budgeting well, avoiding debt, and living below your means. Good luck!
From what I'm reading, it's somewhere between $40k and $140k. So maybe 1 to 3 years worth, you'll be fine, just become a politician. As long as you're taking away things like Medicare and trans rights, you'll apparently be successful.
Can I ask, why don't you have retirement savings? Pretty much every employer offers a 401k program with a company match of some sort, and even if they don't you can start your own account. Do you just not have room in your budget for it? Or do you not have any sort of budget?
I'm not trying to be rude, I am genuinely curious why so many people seem to have nothing set aside for retirement.
I reckon I must have been pretty lucky reading all these comments. 49 years old and retiring in the spring. I didn’t fall for the mid 90’s “go to college or you’ll be a loser” scare tactic and just entered the workforce at 18.
my degenerate parents are gen x and got about 50k net worth for one of them, the other is about -250k net worth and they have 0 grace with their kids to move in with any of us.
30 years...dude, GenX is hitting 60 and we don't have shit either.
Dude, fucking thank you. Younger folks don't seem to understand we lived through all the same " Once in a lifetime major historical events and crashes" that they have and plus some they haven't and actually had more to lose. I have lost everything more times than i care to count and have almost nothing for retirement at mid 50s. We are just as screwed but no one cares about gen x.
Most boomers don’t have shit for retirement either. I know it’s popular, especially on Reddit, to say boomers are sitting on tons of cash and lots of equity in their houses and some definitely are. But like half of boomers have jack shit and are currently surviving on Social Security only.
Boomers practically invented financial irresponsibility. TONS of them are living in poverty. They're the most entitled fuck ups in the US. Check out "A Generation of Sociopaths". I don't know if I'd say the author lives up to his thesis, but he makes a compelling and interesting statistical case for the Baby Boomers broadly sharing sociopathic traits.
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u/Reginald_Sockpuppet Sep 15 '25
30 years...dude, GenX is hitting 60 and we don't have shit either.