A report released Monday by the Insured Retirement Institute found that many Gen X investors lack retirement confidence and that marital status is an important indicator of how well prepared they are. More specifically, while 40% of married Gen Xers believe they can be comfortable through retirement, just 24% of single Gen Xers agree.
Overall, two-thirds of Gen X investors doubt they'll have enough money to live comfortably in retirement or cover medical expenses, according to IRI. Plus, more than half of unmarried Gen X investors have less than $50,000 saved, compared with 27% of married investors.
However, almost twice as many married investors have at least $200,000 saved as unmarried investors, the study found. Also, married Gen X investors appear to be doing better, though there isn't much cause for celebration.
"While we would expect the level of savings to be less than that of married GenXers, this level is still quite low," according to the report. "However, the savings levels of married GenXers are also insufficient, even more so when compared to patterns seen among their unmarried counterparts."
The report found that overall almost one-quarter of Gen X investors stopped contributing to their retirement accounts after the recession hit and 15% took early withdrawals from their 401(k)s. IRI found that single Gen X investors withdrew funds from their retirement plans at a greater rate than married investors.
