Money for nothing? MTV generation more likely to be facing dire straits

When MTV launched in the early 1980s it offered the perfect soundtrack for a generation focused on becoming successful and accumulating wealth.

But while one of the channel’s most iconic videos was “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straits, many of those bright young things of the time are now headed for a retirement that could resonate more with the band name than the song title.

Most Gen Xers are yet to retire and are perhaps regretting relying too much on the easy money attitude of the 1980s. As reality bites, those in their 40s and 50s are increasingly worried about their retirement finances, according to a new report from Corebridge Financial.

Just 32% of Gen Xers who took part in the firm’s research are confident that they can manage their retirement money to provide income for as long as they live with almost 2 in 3 concerned about quality of life (64%) or running out of money (63%) if they were to live to 100.

In a whitepaper titled “Don’t You (Forget About Me)”: Getting the MTV generation successfully to and through retirement, which found that Gen X is the least confident generation on fully funding retirement, six key current financial concerns are highlighted:

1. Inflation (67%)
2. Rising cost of health care (51%)
3. Financially unable to save more (40%)
4. Generating lasting retirement income (38%)
5. Managing current financial needs (32%)
6. Stock market volatility (31%)

It also found that more than two thirds of Gen Xers expect to work beyond 65, including almost three in ten who say they are likely to still be working after 70.

A separate recent study from Natixis Investment Managers also pointed to the challenges faced by Gen X with their current retirement savings falling well short of the amount required for them to meet their preferred retirement age of 60.

While the Corebridge research found that Gen Xers are willing to focus on vital retirement finance matters such as securing a lifetime income, paying off debt, and having an estate plan, it also revealed that this generation is also often slow to consult an advisor, despite those who do so being nearly twice as confident in their retirement preparations.