Quick Read – 54% of non-retirees do not believe they will be financially prepared for retirement, with Gen X facing particular urgency as the oldest members approach traditional retirement age within years. – Half of Americans who have saved for retirement have accumulated three…
mes or less of their annual income, falling significantly short of the Fidelity benchmark of six to eight times salary by ages 50-60, forcing many Gen X workers to plan on working into their late sixties or beyond. – The oldest members of Gen X are stepping into their early sixties this year, and the youngest are settling into their mid‑forties. That span between 46 and 61 is supposed to be the stretch when peak earnings, fewer household expenses, and years of compounding finally begin to work in the same direction
The new findings from Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 Planning & Progress Study show that many Gen X households are watching that window narrow without the financial footing they expected to have by now. The study’s most telling number sits right at the center of the story. A majority of non‑retirees (54%) say they do not believe they will be financially prepared for retirement when the time comes.
That is, working adults across income levels and life stages are telling researchers that they expect to fall short. For Gen X specifically, the concern carries more weight because the first wave of the cohort will reach traditional retirement age in just a few years. The question of readiness is no longer theoretical, but it is arriving on a schedule that does not slow down.