Opinion  

Why the cupboards are bare for Gen X

Simoney Kyriakou

Simoney Kyriakou

Generation X should, on paper, have it made.

The older gen X, who are 55-58 years old, may well have been the last beneficiaries of private defined benefit schemes in the UK. 

Most of these will have been able to get onto the property ladder in the late 1980s, early 1990s while the price-to-income ratio was not as wide as it is today. 

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Many may already have paid off their mortgage.

But the younger generation X, who are aged between 45 to 55, are finding things a lot tougher, statistics suggest.

Early millennials who are now between 41 and 43 are also grappling with concerns over their finances, which their pre-war or early Boomer parents have not had to worry about. 

Overall, those aged 41-55 are worried that their money just won't last into retirement. 

The latest Great British Retirement Survey from Interactive Investor, which was unveiled under embargo at a private meeting in the House of Lords earlier this week, showed this cohort are the most worried of all Britons about running out of money in retirement. 

More than 9,000 UK adults were interviewed; 4,801 by Opinium and the rest from Interactive Investor's own customers between May and July this year. 

Some 49 per cent of respondents aged 41-55 cited running out of money in retirement as a concern. 

Added to this, 36 per cent - more than one in three Brits in this age group - worried they were not able to save enough for retirement. 

This is a stark contrast to those aged 66 and above, where only 8 per cent said they were worried they might not have saved enough for their retirement. 

High price tags

There are number of factors, of course, not least the demise of DB pension schemes affecting those under the age of 55.

With investment risk borne by the saver themselves, and with no income guarantees, the burden of saving falls squarely onto the individual, along with the stress and worry attached to this.

Amid the cost of living crisis, 60 per cent of those aged 41-55 said the rising cost of living was their greatest concern.

But this is also the cohort most likely to have children at school or in higher education, which comes with high price tags, and a pressure to balance working hours with school hours, which I've discovered loosely follow Edwin Hubble's theory of expansion.

Gen X are also likely to be still in the stages of paying off the mortgage and possibly facing a round of remortgaging soon, at higher rates than in previous years thanks to the Bank of England wielding that hammer against inflation.

Moreover, many of them have cited caring responsibilities - for older parents or young children - as the main reason why they have had to retire or reduce their working hours.