More than half (52 per cent) of people in Generation X are not confident that they will have saved enough to achieve a good standard of living in retirement, research by Just Group has found.

Its research project, Generation Anxiety, aimed to highlight the “unique financial and lifestyle pressures” that are squeezing those in Generation X (people born between 1965 and 1981).

Over a third (38 per cent) of Gen Xers said they were not at all confident in the adequacy of their retirement savings, 10 per cent did not know whether they would be able to accrue enough savings to achieve a financially comfortable retirement, and 4 per cent said they had not thought about it.

Those who owned a home were more confident they would have sufficient savings to have a good standard of living in retirement than renters, with 54 per cent of homeowners confident in their savings’ adequacy compared to 33 per cent of renters.

Nearly a third (29 per cent) of those in Gen X were financially supporting adult children and 11 per cent were helping finance the care costs of parents or elderly relatives, which Just said highlighted the extent of demands on their income and savings, and was forcing many to deprioritise pension contributions.

"Our research focused on Gen X – or Generation Anxiety – has uncovered their fears that they will have to work longer, pay off their mortgage for a longer period and now it highlights concerns that they won’t build up adequate pension savings,” commented Just Group group communications director, Stephen Lowe.

"It is clear that Gen X are feeling squeezed – their pensions are less generous, their mortgages are more costly, and many are supporting their children financially with some also helping with later life care fees.

“In this environment with the cost-of-living crisis tightening budgets further it is perhaps unsurprising that people feel unable or unwilling to increase pension contributions.

“When members of this generation do start thinking about retirement they are going to benefit from expert support to make the most of what they have and help make careful choices about when they exit the workforce.”

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