wc fields“It ain’t what they call you, it’s what you answer to”—W.C. Fields

Can we all possibly agree that labeling everything is getting a bit much? It used to be that labels were mostly for, say, record companies, candy bars and cans. Now age groups are labeled—there are the Baby Boomers, the Generation Xers and the millennials (AKA Generation Y). Anyway, that’s followed by Generation Z and one wonders if anyone making it past 100 might one day be called, what, a perennial? But back to the millennials, a demographic born roughly in the early ‘80s—it’s members of this group that, as headlined in an interesting Nick Thornton piece for benefitspro.com, are “more stressed over future retirement than retirees.” Excerpts from his article:

“Workers with the most time to prepare for retirement are the most stressed about their ability to adequately save between now and their golden years, according to the most recent Merrill Edge report from Merrill Lynch.

“Gen Xers and  millenials were more likely to anticipate saving shortfalls  than were baby boomers and those already retired.

“The survey examined savers with $50,000 to $250,000 in investable assets. Among the cohort, 74 percent of Gen Xers and 67 percent of millennials are predicting financial stress in retirement, given how much they are saving now.

“But 59 percent of current retirees surveyed say they are not stressed over finances, and 73 percent say they will have enough to live on through retirement, compared to 57 percent of non-retirees

“Four in 10 retirees said they invested outside of a workplace retirement account in order to maximize retirement assets, while only 24 percent of non-retirees either do, or are able to do the same.

“About 63 percent of the retirees surveyed contributed to a workplace savings account, while only 57 percent of non-retirees said they are doing so.

“Less than one-quarter of pre-retirees are working with a financial advisor, while 38 percent of retirees said they utilized formal advice in preparing for retirement.

“About half of workers non retired said they plan on working at least part time into retirement, while only 20 percent of retirees said they are, or plan on working in retirement.

“Predictably, more millennials are turning to technology to plan for retirement—27 percent said they use websites or apps to manage funds, compared to 16 percent of Gen Xers, 11 percent of baby boomers, and 5 percent of retirees.”