Gen X Recession Sees Net Worth Halved, High Debt Before Retirement

The Gen X recession between 2007 and 2010 saw the average Gen X-er lose half their net worth.

As previously reported by The Inquisitr, in addition to the Gen X recession Millennials, or those between the ages of 18 to 29, are suffering the worst during this Great Recession.

Millennials probably do not have much savings to lose like with the Gen X recession, but the unemployment rate for Millennials is now 13.1 percent even though the overall unemployment rate for the United States has dropped below eight percent.

The Gen X recession saw those ranging in age from 38 to 47 lose an average of about $33,000. Generation X is also suffering from higher levels of debt than previous generations like the baby boomers. The Gen X recession is largely being blamed on student loans and credit card debt.

Erin Currier, director of Pew’s economic mobility project, explains how the Gen X recession affected people:

“They’re younger in their professional career relative to other cohorts. Wealth is a mixture of all kinds of things — savings, personal accounts, investments.”

Assuming Generation X gets to retire at age 65, the Gen X recession also affects how much money they’ll have to live with. Reports say Generation X lost around 50 percent of their wealth. By age 65 Gen X will only have replaced about half of their pre-retirement income.

The Gen X recession “puts a lot of pressure on Gen X, because they want to be the executives of these companies, but they’re not getting the opportunities. Gen X is stuck in the middle right now.” But 60 percent of Generation Y, or Millennials, have bachelor’s degrees but they tend to be stuck in low end retail or customer service jobs.

What will you do fight the Gen X recession debt problems?