{"id":10525,"date":"2025-10-11T15:21:49","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T19:21:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=10525"},"modified":"2025-10-11T15:21:49","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T19:21:49","slug":"the-gen-x-retirement-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=10525","title":{"rendered":"The Gen X retirement challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Gen X is running out of runway. Pensions are gone, costs are up, and the average nest egg won\u2019t cut it. Here\u2019s the realistic fix\u2014starting now. Authors Kerry Hannon and Janna Herron (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Retirement-Bites-Securing-Financial-Future\/dp\/154170584X?crid=26AJHXZLEIP0L&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aG-siFUE4q7N2O3-kOUnyPBPUL0-zEJl8ieOC4gqdAyfDZV9Iyweo9yPYfOb2YG5paJIxJ-Ke_751ocXCkjM9aohPMsjuR7keR1pqidEu5NDAA0j8SPDa-gzndda644A3MDcUv6Xr9fpqr3iJtDg7b2GNoqF2aelI62Q5zyNlx6dFJYE4Dvnqx7ZSDplBk3U5SLLUP0UKVTzHJvMRwXqiYG5H05qlcj1VtBL1WEEkTc.pSNDVijQeXHz0qCw_7P48FEb1pRmYs64OawhhmjatJ0&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=kerry+hannon+books&amp;qid=1754688946&amp;sprefix=kerry+hannon,aps,114&amp;sr=8-1&amp;linkCode=sl1&amp;tag=kerrhann-20&amp;linkId=ed5956fc2b8f0b44f5d4c34425acd455&amp;language=en_US&amp;ref_=as_li_ss_tl\">Retirement Bites)<\/a> break down what\u2019s changed since Gen X started working\u2014and what you can still control. Contribution math at 50+, tax-smart account order, and the caregiving-retirement tradeoffs no one explains. Correction: When Janna said that Social Security benefits would shrink by 77% if the reserve funds run out, she misspoke and meant to say that people would get 77% of their full Social Security benefits if the reserves run out. Inside: <\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"yt-core-attributed-string__list-group\" dir=\"ltr\">\n<li><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Why many Gen Xers are under-saved (and the 3 levers left to pull) <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Optimize 401(k)\/IRA\/HSA in a high-inflation world <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Roth conversions in peak earning years\u2014when they make sense <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Caregiving + retirement without burning both ends <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span class=\"yt-core-attributed-string--link-inherit-color\" dir=\"auto\">Social Security reality check: COLA, spousal benefits, claiming age<figure class=\"wp-block-embed wp-block-embed-youtube is-type-video is-provider-youtube epyt-figure\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_10894\"  width=\"640\" height=\"360\"  data-origwidth=\"640\" data-origheight=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3uqBmhjMp3U?enablejsapi=1&autoplay=0&cc_load_policy=0&cc_lang_pref=&iv_load_policy=1&loop=0&rel=1&fs=1&playsinline=0&autohide=2&theme=dark&color=red&controls=1&\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"fullscreen; accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/figure><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The Gen X retirement challenge\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Authors Kerry Hannon and Janna Herron, talk abot their new book &#8220;Retirement Bites&#8221; with Bradley Schurman.<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"The Gen X retirement challenge\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10526,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[101,9,674],"tags":[649,333],"class_list":["post-10525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-personal-finance-2","category-retirement","category-retirement-bites","tag-gen-x","tag-retirement"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Screenshot-2025-10-11-at-3.18.21%E2%80%AFPM.png?fit=1842%2C1024&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YFQS-2JL","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10525"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10525\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10527,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10525\/revisions\/10527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}