Gen X and Gen Y showing retirement readiness

Those falling under the label Gen X or Gen Y (born between 1965 and 1995) may have gotten a bad rap lately in terms of their ability and willingness to save and plan for reitrement. But that's not entirely the case, according to life insurance company MassMutual. 

According to its fourth quarter 2013 research, 58.4 percent of total DC participants are in the Gen X and Gen Y cohort and are continuing to gain on Baby Boomers, who now account for just 38.5 percent of participants on MassMutual's platform. For 2013 as a whole, the percentage of combined assets controlled by Gen X and Gen Y (34.2 percent) is still below that of Baby Boomers (60.2 percent), but, according to MassMutual, that gap is gradually closing. 

More specifically, women continue to close the gap in retirement plan account balances as well as in savings rates compared to those of their male counterparts, according to MassMutual. The company's fourth quarter 2013 data shows the average deferral rate for female participants was 5.3 percent, up from 5.25 percent in Q3 of 2013. Though the average account balance for women still trails that of men by 37.4 percent, it continues to improve. MassMutual says the current level marks a "significant improvement" over the highest recorded gap level of 40.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008.