Gen X Retirement Anxiety: 4 Steps to Secure Your Future

By Bryan Pinsky

Generation X has been at the forefront of huge shifts in technology and entertainment. They were the first generation to grow up with personal computers, they witnessed MTV turn music videos into a cultural phenomenon and they matured to adulthood in a world discovering mobile phones and the Internet.

Gen X was also at the starting point of a major societal change involving work and retirement. They were the first generation to enter the workforce as many American companies shifted from pension plans to defined contribution 401(k)s. According to the National Institute on Retirement Security , only 14% of Gen X is covered by a pension.

This generation represents a new era of independence and self-reliance for retirement, but many are feeling anxious about this proposition. Recent Corebridge Financial research found that Gen X is by far the least confident in its ability to fully fund its retirement. Only 22% are confident they won’t outlive their retirement savings, and just 32% believe they can manage their retirement savings to generate income that will last throughout retirement.

The 65 million Americans who make up Gen X are at a critical moment, especially as retirement is rapidly approaching for many of them. Now is the time for Gen X to take action.

If you were born from 1965-1980, you may be in your prime earnings and savings years. Are you ready to make a focused push to prepare for retirement? Are you ready to turn your decades of savings and investing into great things for tomorrow?

Here are four steps Gen X can take to prepare for a new kind of retirement:

1. Visualize your retirement

Everybody's retirement is going to be a little different. Our financial situation, our needs and our priorities are all going to be our own.

It’s important to take some time to visualize what you expect your retirement to be and remember that retirement planning is both a financial and non-financial process.

Ask yourself and your loved ones some questions that can help map things out.

• Who will you be spending time with?
• Where do you think you will be living?
• What will your monthly expenses be and how will you generate the income you need to meet those expenses?

You should also consider the possibility of living a long life and how longevity presents exciting new opportunities. You’ll be able to continue meaningful relationships with family and friends. Maybe you’ll also want to explore and have new experiences. Maybe you’ll help out in the community or take on a project like renovating an old home.

Hopefully you’ll have the energy, health and resources to do all of these and more, but longevity also brings risk. You could outlive your assets or your income and then find yourself in a place where you can’t afford the things that are important to you.

You will need the right financial strategies and solutions to help you fund what could be a very long and full retirement.

2. Meet with a financial professional

One of the most positive characteristics of Gen X is its independence and resourceful attitude.

While the ability to be self-reliant is something this generation should take pride in, retirement planning is one place where it pays to ask for help. One of the best ways to help prepare for the future you are envisioning is to work with a financial professional.

Corebridge research shows Gen X-ers who work with a financial professional are nearly twice as likely to be confident in their retirement preparations, and this finding makes good sense. A financial professional can objectively assess where you are on your journey and identify specific strategies to enhance your financial decision-making.

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Successfully creating a retirement plan requires sorting through what can be a complex and highly connected financial web. You’ll want to consider everything from Social Security to health care costs to workplace retirement plans to personal savings and investments. On that last point, you’ll want a diversified portfolio that—in line with your own specific circumstances—best balances growth, protection and future income.

Getting professional guidance to help you turn what might sound like a tangle into a clear path forward is one of the most impactful steps you can make in securing your retirement, especially when you add in other factors like risk mitigation and tax planning. You can expect your financial professional to have detailed conversations with you, where they take the time to understand your goals and concerns, so plan ahead for these meetings and don’t be surprised if your financial professional raises some questions you hadn’t considered.

3. Determine if protected lifetime income could make sense for you

When Gen X approaches retirement, it will be facing one of the biggest practical and psychological challenges that arises when anyone exits the workforce—the loss of one's paycheck.

No matter how much you have saved or how carefully you have planned, it is a big change to now go through life without that regular income hitting your bank account. Perhaps that’s why Corebridge research found nearly 3 in 4 Gen X-ers say that having a guaranteed source of monthly income beyond Social Security would give them more confidence in living comfortably throughout retirement.

For a large part of this generation, an additional monthly income will not be coming from a pension, so you might want to consider another form of guaranteed income. And, while you’re thinking about income, your financial professional can help you catalog the specifics of your expected retirement expenses , both essential and discretionary, and how your overall portfolio can match up with these costs.

An annuity is one of the most reliable strategies to create a “personal pension” that can provide protected income for as long as you live. Many of today’s annuities offer valuable benefits specifically designed to help people grow their future income—and then generate guaranteed lifetime income when they’re ready to retire.

June is National Annuity Awareness Month, and there’s much more to annuities than protected lifetime income, even though that benefit is incredibly valuable.

Many annuities can provide protection against market volatility. Having lived through a series of major market and economic events—including the dot-com bubble in 2000 and the global financial crisis of 2008—Gen X is all too familiar with the swift financial damage that can be delivered during challenging moments like these. As Gen X gets closer to retirement, the protection that some annuities can provide for a diversified retirement portfolio becomes even more important.

In another example of how annuities can be used, older Gen X-ers who already see themselves as pre-retirees might want to look ahead for how an annuity can create a bridge to delay taking Social Security and help ensure they increase these benefits by waiting until at least 67, which will be the full retirement age for Gen X-ers under the rules of Social Security.

Because this generation will largely be responsible for funding its retirement by turning savings and investments into retirement income, annuities are likely to play a much larger role in their retirement strategies than baby boomers.

4. Revisit your retirement plans regularly

If there’s one thing Gen X knows, it’s change. Many started their careers with chunky cell phones and floppy disks, and now they are working with sleek smartphones and accessing data on the cloud.

This flexibility should make Gen X comfortable with one of the simplest facts about retirement—life brings changes, so you’ll want to check in on your plans for retirement and your financial strategy.

At some point down the road, you may decide you need to course correct. Perhaps your family situation will change, or your financial circumstances. Or maybe you will find a new passion that becomes your main focus for retirement.

With thoughtful action and the help of a financial professional it is possible to stay on track, although where you are in your career might determine the degree of change that’s required. If retirement still seems more than two decades away, a small course correction today can result in a big impact when you’re ready to retire. If you’re closer to retirement, however, you may need to make more significant adjustments.

The oldest members of Gen X will turn 60 next year. While there are many years of work ahead for most in this generation, it’s important for Gen X-ers, if they haven’t already, to actively plan and prepare for what their new kind of retirement will be.

About the author: Bryan Pinsky

Bryan Pinsky is president of Individual Retirement at Corebridge Financial , one of the largest providers of retirement solutions and insurance products in the United States. Mr. Pinsky is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Fellow of the Society of Actuaries.

This material is general in nature, was developed for educational use only, and is not intended to provide financial, legal, fiduciary, accounting or tax advice, nor is it intended to make any recommendations. Applicable laws and regulations are complex and subject to change. Please consult with your financial professional regarding your situation. For legal, accounting or tax advice consult the appropriate professional.

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