Why Gen X Can’t Retire

A Gen X woman avoided racking up thousands in student debt, but she still sees no way to a comfortable retirement as she balances financial responsibilities for her child and parents.

Roughly 13 percent of Gen X-ers in the United States—ages 39-64—are still paying off student debt, with an average of $40,000 threatening their potential retirement plans in a decade or so, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security.

But while Gen X’s heavy student debt might wreak havoc on their retirement plans, that’s not the only economic struggle the generation is up against, experts say.

As the “sandwich generation”, they face conflicting needs at both ends, caring for their millennial and Gen Z children alongside their aging Boomer parents.

“They need to take care of their own household and may also be supporting their young adult children and/or their parents,” Tandy Caraway, a college strategist with CollegeMode Academy, told Newsweek. “I find that stretches their budgets to the max and makes it difficult to pay things like student loans.”

Suzie Schofield, a Gen X-er living in Seattle, was lucky when she graduated college. Her parents paid for her tuition, and she was able to enter the workforce without any debt hanging over her head.

Since then, though, Schofield’s financial life has been less than ideal. She had a baby later in life, at age 39, and so now is in her early 50s with a 14-year-old child. She also helps her aging father as he navigates being a widower.

“Mom was wheelchair-bound for a couple years before we lost her, which was devastating,” Schofield told Newsweek. “The hours spent with her out of love and essential assistance is staggering.”

Schofield’s dad is currently lonely and elderly – while he’d be better off in assisted living, Schofield said the costs are just too expensive. Instead, they pay for a caregiver to be with him a few hours a week.

“It’s not enough,” Schofield said.

She believes her situation is indicative of the larger reality for Gen X, especially the generation’s women. And for many other mid-life women, they face these challenges all on their own, without any help from a partner.

“For mid-40s to mid-50s working women, especially moms, there are way too many demands on her time, energy and wallet,” Schofield said. “The frustration of student debt from forever ago is soul-crushing.”

Along with the constant demands on middle-aged women’s plates, they also still face a stark pay gap with their male peers.

In 2022, women earned 17 percent less than men on average, and recent figures found women still earn just 82 cents for every dollar a man makes. That amount is far lower for women of color.

And even for women who made their way up in the corporate world, they face struggles that men might be unacquainted with, especially when it concerns ageism in the workforce, Schofield said.

Schofield took a brief break from work during the pandemic and has been stunned by the difficulty of finding another job afterward.

When Schofield hired a female professional coach to get her resume in order, she was told by the advisor that she should get Botox and update her hair color in order to get better job opportunities.

“Ageism is also a hard truth for women,” Schofield said. “I doubt men are hearing the same for a little weight gain or needing Rogaine. Our society is used to men aging up in a career. There are far fewer women who have done so. It’s just a fact.”

The pandemic saw a surge of parents, and especially moms, homeschooling their children as well. The U.S. Census Bureau found that 5 more percent of households engaged in homeschooling by the end of 2020 compared to earlier in the year as schools implemented controversial online learning and virus safeguards.

Due to this, women often left jobs or shifted their careers for their families and are now at a disadvantage when reentering the workforce, something Schofield said she has experienced firsthand.

“I didn’t realize my high-value skills as an executive, mid-life woman would suddenly be less marketable now that I have a short break in my resume as a result of a pandemic no one saw coming,” Schofield said.

“If you had told me my expensive college education, in combination with my work ethic and solid resume would not be enough to keep me employed beyond the age of 50, I would have called BS. And if I had paid for that education and still had debt nagging at me, wow, would I be steaming mad about that.”

With all of these factors in the mix, when Schofield looks to the future, she’s not optimistic about how Gen X will realistically be able to retire.

A vast majority, or roughly 84 percent of student loan borrowers, said that the debt is negatively impacting their ability to save for retirement, according to the TIAA Institute. And that’s without extra costs that come up when caretaking needs or unexpected emergencies occur.
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“How in the world will we ever retire?” Schofield said. “Heaven forbid a medical condition renders you bankrupt. Or a natural disaster wipes your home off the block.”

Schofield isn’t the only one considering the reality of a delayed retirement as costs pile on for Gen X.

“The implications of this could be severe, especially for the prospect of a normal retirement,” Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the state of Tennessee, told Newsweek. “If you’re saddled with student debt, not to mention loans for a home, car, or credit card, it could make the reality of retirement much further away than what your age suggests.”

‘One of The Lucky Ones’

Schofield said despite the economic and career hurdles she, as a Gen X woman, is facing, she knows she’s actually in a far better spot than many of her peers.

Schofield’s college roommate, for instance, is also married and has teenage children. Both of them have a person with a disability in the house, and both spend time caregiving and have less time for themselves on top of high expenses.

But Schofield’s roommate also has to contend with the debt she took on when she entered college.

“I am one of the lucky ones,” Schofield said. “My parents paid for my college education. My roommate paid her own way. She said if she knew then, what she knows now, she would have done things differently.”

At age 18, you might love the idea of college, but you also may be unaware of the concept of money and how much loans could truly impact you down the line, she said.

“At age 18, most kids have worked a few hourly jobs and can’t relate to the investment being made,” Schofield said, adding that the situation was especially difficult for Gen X and Baby Boomer women who were in home economics classes learning how to bake and do laundry instead of learning financial skills.

“Conversations about business and finance took place in cigar rooms, male-dominated boardrooms, and athletic clubs back when women were not allowed,” Schofield said.

Despite her lack of financial education, Schofield is now the breadwinner in her family since her husband has a disability.

“But I’m not supposed to talk about that because I don’t want to sound like an insurance liability to a potential employer,” Schofield said.

“I’ll say again. I am one of the lucky ones. I have a home, a car, and food on the table.”