Millennials’ retirement prospects seem rockier than those of older generations of Americans.
That’s largely a function of long-term policy changes such as a later age for full Social Security benefits and a shift to 401(k)-type plans, longer average lifespans and a bigger student debt burden relative to cohorts such as Generation X and baby boomers, according to retirement experts.
However, there’s room for optimism, because younger households have some advantages that may allow them to make up lost ground.
“Millennials are behind,” said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute. “But they have time to catch up, too.”
Millennials, a cohort born from roughly 1981 to 1996, are the nation’s largest adult generation. They’ll be 28 to 43 years old this year.
By comparison, individuals in Gen X were born from 1965 to 1980, and baby boomers from 1946 to 1964.
About 38% of early millennials, those born in the 1980s, will have “inadequate” retirement income at age 70, according to projections from a 2022 Urban Institute study.
By comparison, 28% to 30% of early and late boomers and 35% of early Gen Xers are projected to have inadequate income, according to the study. It measures income from Social Security, other government cash benefits, earnings, pensions and 401(k)-type plans.
“We do see the retirement outlook deteriorating for future generations,” including millennials, said Richard Johnson, director of Urban’s retirement policy program and co-author of the report.
The Urban study measures income inadequacy in two ways: either an inability to replace at least 75% of one’s pre-retirement earnings (i.e., a decline in living standards), or income that falls in the bottom quarter of the annual U.S. average wage (i.e., not being able to meet basic needs), Johnson said. It assumes all cohorts will get full Social Security benefits under current law.
Early millennials of color, those who aren’t married, and individuals with little education and limited lifetime earnings are in an “especially precarious” position, according to the Urban report.
A 2021 paper by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College had similar findings.
While millennials resemble boomers and Gen Xers in many ways — they have comparable homeownership, marriage rates and labor-market experience at similar ages, for example — they’re “well behind” on total wealth accumulation, CRR said.
For example, millennials ages 34 to 38 have a net-wealth-to-income ratio of 70%, much lower than the 110% and 82% for Gen X and late boomers, respectively, when they were the same age, according to its report. Likewise, net wealth for 31- to 34-year-olds is 53% of their annual income, versus 76% and 59% for similarly aged Gen Xers and boomers, respectively.
The primary reason for the wealth gap: student loans, CRR found.
More than 42% of millennials ages 25 to 36 have student debt, versus 24% of Gen Xers at that age, according to a 2021 Employee Benefit Research Institute study.
Household wealth for the typical millennial household was about three-quarters that of Gen X at the same ages ($23,130 vs. $32,359, respectively), despite millennials having more home equity and larger 401(k) balances, EBRI found.
“Student loans are really taking a dent out of [millennials’] net worth,” said Anqi Chen, a co-author of the 2021 CRR report and the center’s assistant director of savings research. “It’s unclear how that will play out in the long run.”
To that point, 58% of millennials say debt is a headwind to saving for retirement, compared with 34% of boomers, for example, according to an annual poll by the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
Millennials have other disadvantages compared with older generations.
For one, longer lifespans mean they must stretch their savings over more years. Out-of-pocket health-care costs and those for services such as long-term care have spiked, and they’re more likely to have children at later ages, experts said.
Further, while older workers with access to workplace retirement plans relied on pension income, workers today, especially those in the private sector, largely have 401(k)-type plans.
“Pensions started to go away in the mid-’90s, when Gen Xers were just starting in the workforce and millennials were still in grade school,” Copeland said.
Pensions give a guaranteed income stream for life, with contributions, investing and payouts managed by employers; 401(k) plans offload that responsibility onto workers, who may be ill-equipped to manage it.
In 2020, 12 million private-sector workers were actively participating in pensions, while 85 million did so in a 401(k)-type plan, according to EBRI.
While workers can potentially amass a larger nest egg with a 401(k), the “big issue” is that benefits don’t accrue automatically as with a pension, Copeland said.
“The old pension system didn’t work for everyone,” Johnson said. “But it did provide more security than the 401(k) system does today.”
Meanwhile, the last major Social Security overhaul, in 1983, gradually raised the program’s “full retirement age” to 67 years old. This is the age at which people born in 1960 or later can get 100% of their earned benefit.
That increase, from age 65, delivers an effective 13% benefit cut for affected workers, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Congress may deliver more benefit cuts to shore up Social Security’s shaky financial footing; such reductions would likely affect younger generations.
Of course, millennials also have advantages that mean today’s gloomy retirement prospects won’t necessarily become reality.
For one, while millennials shoulder more student debt, they’re also more educated. That will make it easier to save for retirement, according to a Brookings Institution report. Higher educational attainment generally translates to higher wages; higher earners also tend to save more of their income, be healthier, and have less physically demanding jobs, it said.
Pensions also generally incentivize retirement at a relatively early age, meaning 401(k) accountholders may stay in the workforce longer, making it easier to finance their retirement, according to the report’s authors, William Gale, Hilary Gelfond and Jason Fichtner.
Specializing in private wealth management, we provide education, guidance, and strategies to help you achieve a tax-efficient retirement income.
Specializing in private wealth management, we provide education, guidance, and strategies to help you achieve a tax-efficient retirement income.
Investment advisory services offered through Donato Wealth Management, PLLC, dba Empower Wealth Management and Empower Wealth & Tax (“Empower Wealth Management” or “EWM”),
an SEC registered investment adviser that only conducts business in jurisdictions where it is properly registered, or is excluded or exempted from registration requirements. Registration as an investment adviser is not an endorsement of the firm by securities regulators and does not mean the adviser has achieved a specific level of skill or ability. The firm is not engaged in the practice of law or accounting.
The information presented is believed to be current. It should not be viewed as personalized investment advice. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the authors on the date of publication and may change in response to market conditions. You should consult with a professional adviser before implementing any strategies discussed. Content should not be viewed as an offer to buy or sell any of the securities mentioned, or as legal or tax advice. You should always consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific legal or tax situation. Personal investment advice can only be rendered after the engagement of EWM, execution of required documentation, and receipt of required disclosures. All investment and insurance strategies have the potential for profit or loss. Asset allocation and diversification will not necessarily improve an investor’s returns and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. For more information, please go to https://adviserinfo.sec.gov and search by our firm name or by our CRD #305031.
Insurance products and tax services are offered through Senior Tax and Insurance Advisors, PLLC, dba Empower Wealth Group (“Empower Wealth Group” or “EWG”). Any comments regarding safe and secure investments and guaranteed income streams refer only to fixed insurance products. They do not in any way refer to investment advisory products offered through EWM. Rates and guarantees provided by insurance products and annuities are subject to the financial strength of the issuing insurance company; not guaranteed by any bank or the FDIC. EWG is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. Government, Social Security Administration, nor the federal Medicare program. You may be contacted by a licensed insurance agent. Calling the number above will direct you to a licensed insurance agent. EWG may not offer every plan available in your area. Any information provided is limited to plans available in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE.
EWM and EWG are both affiliated companies of Empower Wealth, LLC (“Empower”). Investment adviser representatives of EWM may have a financial incentive to recommend tax and insurance products and/or services offered through EWG which presents a conflict of interest. This conflict is addressed by EWM’s adoption of its Code of Ethics, which requires that all EWM’s Associated Persons place the interest of clients ahead of their own. Clients of EWM are also free to choose their own tax and/or insurance professionals and are under no obligation to utilize the services offered through any related entities or persons associated with Empower.
Strategic Partners listed on this page are not employees of EWM and are not affiliated through common ownership.
We do not offer every plan available in your area. Any information we provide is limited to those plans we do offer in your area. Please contact Medicare.gov or 1-800-MEDICARE to get information on all of your options.
© Empower Wealth Management All Rights Reserved.
