Different generations have varying expectations when it comes to saving for retirement.

Baby Boomers often feel unready, Generation X feels they are lagging behind, while millennials are dealing with the additional burdens of student loans and escalating costs of living, according to a Goldman Sachs survey. On the other hand, Gen Z is recognized by BlackRock as being financial savers who are “ahead of their time.”

Despite their differences, all generations share one overarching anxiety: retirement savings stress. A 2024 BlackRock survey revealed that 60% of over 1,000 respondents fear they might outlive their savings.

Inflation is consistently viewed as the primary hurdle to retirement savings, as highlighted in a July report by Charles Schwab, which indicated that 58% of 1,000 participants felt so. Other significant challenges include the unpredictability of the stock market (36% of respondents), monthly expenses (35%), and unforeseen expenditures (32%).

To gather insights on retirement strategies across generations, YSL News interviewed nine individuals aged 19 to 65. Here are some of their personal stories.

‘I’m basically starting over with everything’

Four years ago, Kirsten Farmer was married to someone earning a $200,000 salary. A year later, her marriage ended, leaving her with debts.

“I left with nothing, just a lot of debts,” said the millennial from Austin. “I feel like I’m pretty much starting fresh in my 40s.”

Like many women in marriage, Farmer missed out on significant retirement savings during her key earning years. She initially worked as a teacher earning under $30,000 annually and then spent over a decade at home nurturing her four children.

She retained custody of her children—aged between 8 and 16—and struggles with daily expenses and maintaining her busy schedule filled with school activities.

“I can barely keep up with after-school care for my younger two,” she admitted.

However, Farmer is determined to prepare for her retirement.

“I follow this guideline that suggests I should have three times my salary saved by the age of 40. I’m not quite there yet, but I’m aiming to catch up,” she shared.

Currently, Farmer earns about $65,000 a year as a sales support specialist in the medical benefits industry. Remarkably, she has managed to save nearly $120,000 for retirement—$30,000 each in a Roth IRA, a 401(k), a money market account, and a 403(b). A 403(b) is similar to a 401(k) but designed for public employees, and most of her savings were accrued during the initial years of her marriage.

At one time, she and her husband were in debt for $150,000 in credit cards. She started to tackle that debt while still married, using her husband’s income, and completed the payments with alimony and her own earnings.

Her ambition is to save at least six times her salary by retirement. She also plans to increase her salary by 5% each year. If she maintains this rate for 20 more years, she could see her salary rise to $130,000, which would set her savings goal at $780,000.

Farmer hopes to retire comfortably between the ages of 60 and 65.

“I feel like I have sacrificed so much; I want to socialize, travel, and be actively involved in my children’s lives, knowing I’ve made a solid investment in their futures,” she expressed.

In the meantime, she lives on a tight budget, avoiding luxuries like yoga classes or gym memberships.

“I cut out girls’ weekend retreats, bar outings, and fun travel typical for my age group. My social life has shrunk. I don’t frequent Starbucks, rarely eat out, and I barely shop. If I buy clothes, it’s from Goodwill,” she shared.

‘Me and my wife, we want to travel’

It may raise eyebrows that a worker from a petrochemical facility in Louisiana intends to retire with $3 million saved.

Nonetheless, when Matthew Richard from Westlake, Louisiana, explains his strategy, the goal starts to sound achievable.

At 35, Richard has been part of the workforce since he was a teenager. He moved out on his own during high school and committed over a decade to the National Guard, comprising convoy security missions in Iraq before he transitioned to recruitment and retention roles.

After working for an Anheuser-Busch distributor and as a casino dealer, Richard landed a better-paying position as an operator.

at the local W.R. Grace petrochemical facility in Lake Charles, overseeing the creation of catalysts utilized in manufacturing.

“It’s the only industry here,” Richard mentioned. “Besides that, there are casinos. To earn a decent income in Lake Charles, you must choose one of these paths.”

Richard has a base salary of $95,000, with significant overtime pay.

“In the six years I’ve been here, I haven’t earned less than $115,000,” he noted.

Richard has already set aside $110,000 for retirement, contributing 8% of his salary, along with a 6% match from his employer. He receives annual pay increases of 3% or 4% and plans to allocate most of this extra income to his 401(k) “until I reach the maximum,” he added. The contribution limit for 401(k) in 2024 is $23,000, and it will increase in the future.

If Richard follows his plan and continues to work for another 27 years, retiring at 62, he anticipates saving “around $3.5 million” by that time, according to his calculations with a retirement calculator, which assumes a 10% annual return. (He provided YSL News with screenshots of his calculations that appear accurate.)

Richard is confident he will achieve his savings target, planning to do it independently. He isn’t relying on his wife, Brittany, to contribute to their retirement savings. Brittany works part-time cleaning houses and is busy caring for their three daughters, aged 15, 10, and 9.

“She’s not exactly on board with the saving plan,” he jokes. “I’m on a solo mission for now.”

Housing isn’t an obstacle for them. Four years back, the couple purchased a $240,000 house, a five-bedroom property on a golf course, using a VA loan with an impressive interest rate of 1.75%. Their monthly payment is $1,100.

The Richards envision an active retirement.

“My wife and I want to travel, whether it’s across the United States or to Europe,” he stated. “We’ll likely downsize from our current house to a two-bedroom. Our main goal is to relax with our grandkids and travel.”

Setting Up the Next Generation

Margarita Reyes and her husband are planning to retire in two years.

The 65-year-old pastor from La Puente, California, has accumulated about $25,000 in an IRA account. While this isn’t the recommended ten times a person’s salary by age 67 according to Fidelity, Reyes feels confident they’ll manage.

The couple relies on their family-owned industrial air compressor repair business to provide a steady income. Jose Reyes, her husband, intends to reduce his role to sales after transferring the main operational responsibilities to their daughter and son-in-law. Margarita also aims to work part-time “here and there” after retiring.

Selling their home, which Reyes estimates to be worth around $150,000, will alleviate the stress of a mortgage payment. They plan to move in with one of their daughters, significantly lowering their monthly expenses. Additionally, with a pension from the church, Reyes won’t have to worry about healthcare costs.

Reyes acknowledges that their retirement planning is “complicated,” and as first-generation Americans from Mexico, “we have not been the most disciplined savers.” However, she is determined that her three daughters will be in a better financial position.

Her daughters “have learned from our experiences about the importance of saving for retirement. In a way, we’ve shared our experiences to caution the next generation against repeating our mistakes,” Reyes told YSL News in a translated interview from Spanish.

Learning from Previous Generations

At just 19, Stephen Lin and Matthew Shadid have already made a solid start on their retirement savings.

The college students and co-founders of Gen-Z for Financial Literacy, a nonprofit advocating for greater financial literacy courses in high schools, each opened Roth IRAs shortly after turning 18.

While their jobs aren’t particularly lucrative yet – Shadid, from Wellesley, Massachusetts, works as a teaching assistant on campus, and Lin, from New York City, worked as an online tutor and interned at a private equity firm last summer – both have prioritized setting up automatic deposits into their retirement accounts every month.

They attribute their motivation to save early to high school personal finance classes, educational YouTube videos, and lessons from previous generations.

“We’ve observed the challenges that our parents and older generations faced during the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID pandemic,” Lin remarked, referring to those difficult times. “These experiences have emphasized the need to set money aside.”

Trends in the housing market are also influencing Gen Z’s retirement strategies, according to Shadid, who has noticed peers abandoning the idea of saving for a house. Instead, he observed that more individuals are diverting that money into Roth IRAs.

“Many of our friends feel that homeownership isn’t a realistic future for them,” Shadid noted. “This, combined with their anxiety over retirement savings, is leading them to focus on funding their retirement instead of saving for a down payment.”

‘I Don’t Want to End Up at This Desk’

Five years after her divorce, Sharyn Lowenkamp, 58, finds it hard to believe she is on track – just barely – for a comfortable retirement.

Throughout their marriage, Lowenkamp’s husband took care of the financial matters: paying bills, managing bank accounts, filing taxes.

“He handled all financial responsibilities,” said the Gen Xer from Shaker Heights, Ohio.

It wasn’t until the marriage ended that Lowenkamp discovered the couple had virtually no savings.

She reassessed her retirement savings, regrouped, and refocused her efforts. At that moment, she had roughly $19,000 saved in a 403(b) account.

Since then, Lowenkamp has successfully increased her retirement savings to $160,000, diversifying her investments across a 403(b), a 401(k), and a pension that she plans to convert into a traditional retirement account.

According to her Fidelity retirement-planning app, Lowenkamp is making significant progress.

“It indicates that I’m on track. I’m just starting to be on track,” she explained. “I’m no longer in a precarious position.”

During her years of marriage, Lowenkamp worked part-time while raising her two now-adult children.

As a single parent, Lowenkamp has concentrated on increasing her income. Currently, she earns around $80,000 annually as a project manager at Oracle. She contributes 12% of her salary to a 401(k), and an employer match boosts her contributions to 15%, totaling about $12,000 per year. She aims to allocate any future pay raises toward her retirement savings.

Lowenkamp’s next step is to collaborate with a financial planner to develop a retirement strategy, including specific savings goals. She has been interviewing potential advisors.

“I hope to retire at 67 and a half,” when she’ll be eligible for full Social Security benefits, “but I intend to avoid tapping into my Social Security,” she mentioned.

Delaying retirement increases the monthly Social Security payment; if she waits until age 70, her benefit will rise from $2,410 to $3,198.

Having been a renter, one of Lowenkamp’s significant aspirations was to purchase a home—and she has recently found one. The property is a three-bedroom colonial, 1,342 square feet, conveniently located near Lake Erie.

“My mortgage will only be $300 more than my current rent,” she explained. Additionally, she will benefit from the tax advantages associated with homeownership.

Now, Lowenkamp aspires to exit the workforce before she reaches an age where she cannot fully enjoy her retirement.

“I am determined not to pass away at this desk, working from home,” she expressed.

Goals for Early Retirement

Anthony Levi Tips describes his generation as being cautiously anxious about retirement, “but in a positive way.”

The 26-year-old mechanical engineer from Houston saves 25% of his pre-tax earnings, aiming for an early retirement before turning 50.

He credits radio host Dave Ramsay and various online resources—like YouTube and the r/personalfinance subreddit—for motivating him to invest early in life.

“Since I was a child, I’ve had access to information through the Internet,” he said. “Financial advice is ubiquitous on our social media feeds, so I believe we’re better prepared than many anticipate.”

According to a 2023 Goldman Sachs report, Gen Z shows high confidence in retirement planning, with nearly 50% expecting to retire before they turn 60. However, the report cautions that their retirement expectations might be overly optimistic due to potential challenges like changing economic conditions, possible issues with Social Security, and the need for additional funding as life expectancies increase.

With a six-figure annual salary, Tips recognizes that saving for retirement is less of a struggle for him compared to others. Nevertheless, he is committed to saving as much as he can, even if it requires reducing discretionary spending in his twenties to afford more leisure time later for hobbies like 3D printing, gaming, and traveling.

“I’m basing my strategy on my parents’ retirement and what seemed to make them happy,” he shared, noting that his father retired early.

‘There’s Only So Much You Can Cut Back’

Nick Joslin, aged 34, had a late start in saving for retirement, making his first investment in 2020 after graduating.

Now, four years later, he has accumulated about $35,000 saved for retirement. Joslin attempts to maximize his contributions each year, but this can be challenging.

“I wish I had started a Roth IRA when I was younger, but it was never clearly explained to me,” admitted the millennial from Raleigh, North Carolina. “It was always a bit of a mystery.”

During graduate school, Joslin’s job in research provided health insurance and covered essential expenses but left little for savings. As a result, he adopted a frugal lifestyle, steering clear of costly vacations and dining out, and he even sold a motorcycle in 2023 to maximize his IRA contributions that year.

“But there’s only so much I can do to save,” he mentioned. Grocery costs have been steadily rising, along with housing expenses. Joslin aims to save at least $2 million but is anxious that it may not be sufficient when he reaches retirement.

“The thought of running out of money and relying on Social Security is quite daunting,” he admitted. “I don’t want to become a burden to my future kids and their partners.”

For the time being, he continues to invest in his IRA while hoping to secure a job that provides a 401(k). He also expressed interest in investing in a regular brokerage account if he fully funds his traditional retirement accounts.

‘It’s hard to save’

Tracy Obarsky, 45, is struggling to put money away for retirement due to various life challenges.

Initially, she faced a setback during the 2008 recession when her Nevada employer went out of business, leading to the loss of her unvested 401(k) savings. After starting anew with a different job and saving in a 401(k), a move to Texas pushed her to withdraw funds to buy an RV. Then, in 2019, her savings took another blow when she and her husband needed to cover their home’s down payment in San Antonio.

As an environmental geologist, Obarsky acknowledges her desire to save more, but acknowledges that “life happens.” She faced student loans, which she paid off by age 42, expenses for car repairs, and her husband’s back surgery, alongside rising costs driven by inflation.

At 45, Obarsky has accumulated around $65,000 in her 401(k), which is less than a year’s salary based on her current earnings. T. Rowe Price suggests that savers should aim to have 2.5 to 4 times their annual salary at her age.

“Saving feels impossible,” Obarsky remarked. “I’m doing everything I can.”

Her generation – dubbed the “401(k) experiment” generation by Goldman Sachs – was the first to majorly depend on 401(k) plans after the transition from pensions in the 1980s, leaving them less opportunity to save significantly. A Charles Schwab report from July found that only 40% of Gen X participants felt “very likely” to meet their retirement savings targets.

Following the housing market crash and the COVID-19 pandemic, Obarsky understands why many in her generation are having a hard time saving.

“We’ve been financially squeezed since we graduated,” she reflected, adding, “All I want is enough to live on without stressing over whether to pay for medications or the power bill.”