These are late-end boomers, and early Gen-X'ers. They saw the removal of pensions - after they'd started working, and the early days of 401k which were not as competitive with matching as now. This is also the era when staying at the same company forever became not-a-thing anymore. Outsourcing and offshoring surged after they hit 35. Many corporate dynamics were different from 2000 on vs. prior years.
2008/9 impacted them when they were already well into their careers. They took layoffs, paycuts, and pay freezes in their prime earning years. They likely had mortages under-water homes for years as well. Many probably sold out what was left of their 401ks at the wrong time.
(So, while the child/marriage approach might be useful for general planning, it doesn't explain why this group is retiring at far lower levels than those before them.)
Agree. Spouse and I certainly saw this among friends/family. I retired in 2006 age 56; he retired end of 2009 age 57.
He has state pension with 40+ yrs, 100% survivor benefits, and healthcare benefit. I worked for a number of companies and only have 3 small annuities from employers I vested with. Very modest (less than six figures) retirement savings; I lost most of it when we tried to avoid filing bankruptcy in 1993 (which was stupid; I didn't know at the time IRA savings are protected).
However, I worked several jobs in the financial services industry, and learned a great deal more while working for an independent CFP. Altho we started late (mid-40's), we gradually learned enough to do strategic retirement planning.
By the time the Great Recession started in 2009 we were able to retire and live very comfortably without needing to draw on the portfolio. For almost 10 yrs we were the only people in our 'group' who were able to take early retirement. The only exceptions we saw were high-level execs at the multi-million $$$$ levels.
Several family members ended up working another decade to make up for market and job losses. Don't forget, also, there was a big issue about "ageism" - and still is - in the tech industry; so many once well-paid techies had to take contract jobs with longer commutes. Even if they managed to get paid the same or close to before, there were no benefits.
Many of our self-employed friends are still working in their late 60's and early 70's, saying they can't afford to retire.
In our dining out and starting to travel again, we are finally seeing more retirees, but the majority of them are FRA (full retirement age).
