2026年8月24日 / 美国东部时间下午3:48 / CBS新闻
退休正困扰着X世代。该群体年龄最长者明年就将年满62岁，这是民众申领社会保障福利的最早年龄，而许多美国人储蓄严重不足，即便在该体系自身面临资金危机的情况下，也难以停止工作。
53岁的克里斯·布拉纳曼开玩笑说，他的退休生活将是在沃尔玛当迎宾员。
“这是我用调侃的方式表达我退休后可能还得工作，”来自密歇根州贝城的布拉纳曼说道，他从事IT行业，称自己的401(k)计划里约有10万美元存款。他认为即便未来十年能多存些钱，这笔钱也不足以支撑退休生活。
布拉纳曼绝非个例。当前年龄在46岁至61岁之间的X世代，于上世纪80年代和90年代进入职场，彼时雇主正逐步取消养老金计划，转而推行401(k)计划。
上世纪70年代，约有一半的私营部门员工拥有养老金——这类计划由雇主出资，退休后可保证获得固定收入。如今，仅有约14%的私营部门员工拥有养老金。这场退休保障格局的重大转变，被专家们视为许多美国人储蓄严重不足的原因之一。
向401(k)计划的根本性转变，将决定储蓄金额和投资策略的责任转移给了雇员。因此，许多X世代如今意识到，社会保障可能最终会成为他们退休收入的主要——甚至是唯一——来源。该群体的多名劳动者告诉CBS新闻，401(k)体系对他们而言并不奏效。
雪上加霜的是，社会保障体系预计将在2032年出现资金缺口，届时许多X世代即将退休，福利可能遭到削减。
X世代提到了多方面的不利因素：从结构性问题——他们刚开始工作时没有自动 enrollment 选项，部分人在职业生涯中也并非总能获得退休计划——到经济和个人危机，失业和离婚导致一些人动用退休储蓄维持生计。
“或许我们早年没怎么考虑过退休，只是因为我们习惯了看到上一代人由雇主照料养老，”布拉纳曼说道。他还略带讽刺地补充道，“401(k)计划对我们这代人来说再合适不过了：自己想办法解决。”
社会保障的“预警信号”
金融服务公司NFP最近的一项调查显示，约41%的55岁以上美国劳动者预计社会保障将成为他们退休后的主要收入来源，这一比例较去年的25%有所上升。该民调发现，这一比例远超同年龄段中认为退休资金主要来自401(k)计划、个人退休账户（IRA）和其他退休账户的26%。
“这是一个预警信号，”NFP董事总经理、全国退休业务负责人杰西卡·埃斯皮诺萨对CBS新闻表示，“那些即将退休的人，是首批不得不依靠自身储蓄的群体。”
她补充道：“他们没有养老金计划，真正能支撑他们能否按自己的意愿退休的，就是社会保障和他们攒下的所有积蓄，这对这一群体来说确实令人望而生畏。”
“两条腿的凳子”
社会保障体系原本被设计为退休保障所谓“三条腿凳子”中的一条腿，另外两条腿则是个人储蓄（如401(k)计划）和养老金。根据美国全国老龄委员会的数据，按照这一设计，社会保障应能替代退休人员约40%的收入。
美国退休保障研究所的数据显示，仅有约14%的X世代仍拥有养老金，比如教师和政府雇员。这意味着大多数出生于1964年至1980年之间的X世代，将不得不依靠实质上的“两条腿凳子”——401(k)计划和社会保障——来支撑退休生活。
然而，大多数X世代的退休储蓄远远不足，中位储蓄额仅为10.7万美元。与此同时，美国退休研究所2025年的一项研究显示，X世代认为自己需要约70万美元的储蓄才能舒适地度过退休生活。
“这太令人恐惧了”
接受CBS新闻采访的X世代表达了对退休保障体系的不满，许多人表示他们别无选择，只能在老年继续工作。
一些人还不得不动用401(k)计划来应对财务冲击，比如一位61岁的女性，去年12月失业后，目前正在提取自己10万美元的退休基金。她说目前还没找到新工作，她推测这可能是年龄歧视导致的。由于涉及敏感的财务信息，她要求匿名接受CBS新闻采访。
“这太令人恐惧了，”她对CBS新闻说道，“我真不知道该如何度过晚年。”
她的计划是在申领社会保障福利后继续工作，她将根据前夫的收入记录申领福利。她估计每月能拿到约4000美元的社会保障金，她说这笔钱不足以支付洛杉矶地区的日常开支。
“我不知道在南加州一个人每月只有4000美元且没有任何储蓄该怎么生活，”这位女性补充道。
X世代还向CBS新闻谈到了他们在为退休储蓄的同时，还要承担帮助十几岁或二十出头的子女的经济压力，以及生活成本不断上涨的困境。
“我们以前每周买 groceries 只要120美元，”来自田纳西州的54岁约书亚说道，他的401(k)计划里存款不到10万美元，因隐私问题要求隐去姓氏。“现在进杂货店要花250美元。”
他补充道：“所有物价都涨了，但工资却没跟上。”
与其他X世代不同的是，他预计能从田纳西州一所公立学院的IT管理员岗位上获得养老金。他表示，只要保持财务审慎，这笔福利就能让他顺利退休。
难以追赶
一些X世代打算帮助子女支付大学费用，比如51岁的J.阿什利·伦弗鲁，他17岁的女儿今年秋天将升入高三。伦弗鲁说，未来几年帮助女儿支付大学学费可能会压缩他的预算，但他认为这个财务决定很重要。
“我宁愿她不要像我和我妻子那样，一毕业就背上学生贷款的包袱，”他说道。
伦弗鲁是一名401(k)计划管理员，他指出，人们常建议50岁以上的人利用补缴供款来增加退休储蓄。根据美国国税局的税法，2026年所有劳动者的储蓄限额为2.45万美元，50岁以上的劳动者每年可额外补缴8000美元。
根据他在退休行业的工作经验，几乎没有人能利用这一政策。
“能进行补缴供款的只有企业所有者和股东，其他的都是高收入人群，”伦弗鲁说道，他补充道自己的工资不足以让他这么做。
他还表示：“我们行业的所有政策都对普通劳动者漠不关心。人们的工资连日常生活开支都覆盖不了，更别说充分认识到缴存401(k)计划的好处了。”
陷入危机的社会保障
与其他接受CBS新闻采访的X世代不同，伦弗鲁认为他退休时社会保障体系可能已经不复存在。他说他预计会工作到去世。
“我们一直告诉人们不要依赖社会保障，我把这话放在了心上，”他说道。
诚然，社会保障信托基金距离资不抵债只剩六年时间，届时7000万领取月度福利的民众的养老金可能会被削减22%。不过大多数退休专家认为，社会保障体系将继续存在，考虑到潜在的政治影响，国会很可能会对该体系进行救助，避免削减福利。
但如果不采取补救措施，数百万X世代达到退休年龄时，他们的社会保障福利可能会大幅缩水。
如果社会保障体系资不抵债，布拉纳曼说：“那时候就只剩下：我是住在房子里、公寓里，还是河边的货车里？你真的得把所有选项都考虑到，做好适应那个时刻的准备。”
与此同时，接受CBS新闻采访的X世代表示，他们正在向十几岁和二十出头的子女强调尽早为退休储蓄的重要性。
“没人跟我讲过储蓄、预算和放眼未来的事，”那位洛杉矶的61岁女性说道，“我来自单亲家庭，经济条件不好，我母亲也不懂这些。”
“幸运的是，我已经教会了女儿，她已经远远走在了前面，”她补充道。
一些接受CBS新闻采访的X世代表达了他们这代人特有的对退休的愤世嫉俗，强调他们进入职场时，人们默认劳动者完全清楚如何以及何时储蓄。
近年来，诸如2022年《安全2.0法案》等立法增强了退休保障体系，新增了自动401(k) enrollment和自动升级等条款，随时间推移提高劳动者的缴存比例。但X世代认为，即便有可能，他们在50多岁和60岁出头时追赶退休储蓄也会非常困难。
“我得自己解决这个问题，这非常符合X世代的特点，”田纳西州的IT管理员约书亚说道，“到了我这个年纪，401(k)账户里没有100万美元，你就会觉得自己是个失败者。但和我处境一样的人，比拥有100万美元401(k)账户的人多得多。”
阿兰·谢特尔 编辑
Gen Xers fret over the future of Social Security. “I will likely be working in retirement.”
August 24, 2026 / 3:48 PM EDT / CBS News
Retirement is biting Generation X. Its oldest members will turn 62 next year, the earliest age at which people can claim Social Security benefits, with many Americans having too little saved to stop working even as the program faces its own funding crisis.
Chris Branaman, 53, jokes that his retirement will be spent as a Walmart greeter.
“That’s my funny way of saying I will likely be working in retirement,” said Branaman of Bay City, Michigan, who works in IT and says he has about $100,000 saved in his 401(k) plan. He doesn’t expect that will be enough to fund his retirement, even if he’s able to put more money away over the next decade.
Branaman is hardly alone. Gen Xers, who are now 46 to 61 years old, entered the workforce in the 1980s and 1990s, just as employers were shifting away from pensions in favor of 401(k)s.
In the 1970s, about half of all private-sector workers had pensions, which are employer-funded and guarantee a payout at retirement. Today, only about 14% of private-sector workers have pensions, a major transformation in the retirement landscape that experts cite as one reason many Americans are woefully short on savings.
The fundamental shift toward 401(k)s places the onus on employees to decide how much to save and to plot out their investment strategy. As a result, many Gen Xers are now realizing that Social Security may end up serving as their primary — or even only — source of retirement income. The 401(k) system hasn’t worked for them, several workers in the cohort told CBS News.
Compounding their concerns is a projected Social Security funding shortfall in 2032, which could trigger benefit cuts just as many Gen Xers are set to retire.
Gen Xers cited headwinds ranging from structural issues — automatic enrollment wasn’t available when they started working, while some didn’t always have access to retirement plans at times in their careers — to economic and personal crises, with job losses and divorce causing some to dip into their retirement savings to get by.
“Maybe we didn’t think about it as much early on, just because we were so used to seeing previous generations taken care of by their employers,” Branaman said. The 401(k), he added wryly, “was perfect for our generation: Figure it out.”
Social Security “warning”
About 41% of U.S. workers over 55 expect Social Security to be their primary source of income in retirement, up from 25% last year, according to a recent survey from financial services firm NFP. That far outpaces the 26% in the same age group who believe their retirements will be mostly funded by 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement accounts, the poll found.
This data “is a warning light,” Jessica Espinoza, NFP managing director and national practice leader for retirement, told CBS News. “Those that are about to hit retirement, that’s really the first tranche of individuals that have had to rely on their own savings.”
She added, “They didn’t have pension plans, and it’s really Social Security and whatever else they’ve been able to accumulate that’s going to drive whether they can retire on their own terms or not, and that’s really daunting for that population.”
Two-legged stool
Social Security was designed to provide one leg of retirement’s so-called three-legged stool, with personal savings, such as a 401(k), and pensions serving as the other two legs. Under that design, Social Security should replace about 40% of a person’s income in retirement, according to the National Council on Aging.
About 14% of Gen Xers still have pensions, such as teachers and government workers, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. That means most of those born between 1964 and 1980 will rely on what is effectively a two-legged stool — 401(k)s and Social Security — to fund their retirement.
Yet most Gen Xers haven’t saved nearly enough for retirement, with a median of $107,000 in savings. At the same time, Gen Xers think they’ll need roughly $700,000 in savings to adequately fund their golden years, according to a 2025 study from the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.
“It’s scary”
The Gen Xers interviewed by CBS News expressed frustration with the retirement system, with many saying they’ll have no choice but to continue working in old age.
Some have also had to tap their 401(k) plans to cope with financial shocks, like a 61-year-old who is currently drawing down her $100,000 retirement fund after losing her job in December. She said she hasn’t yet found a new job, which she speculated could be due to ageism. She spoke to CBS News on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitive financial information she shared.
“It’s scary,” she told CBS News. “I honestly don’t know how one navigates through one’s elder years.”
Her plan is now to continue working after claiming Social Security, which she will draw based on her ex-husband’s earnings. She estimates she’ll receive about $4,000 a month in Social Security benefits, an amount she said will be insufficient to cover her day-to-day expenses in the Los Angeles area.
“I don’t know how a person in Southern California lives on $4,000 a month with nothing saved,” the woman added.
Gen Xers also spoke to CBS News about the difficulty of saving for retirement while coping with the financial pressures of helping their kids, who are teens or in their early 20s, and the rising cost of living.
“We were buying groceries for $120 a week,” said Joshua, a 54-year-old from Tennessee who has less than $100,000 saved in his 401(k) and asked that his last name be withheld due to privacy concerns. “Now if you go into the grocery store, it’s $250.”
He added, “The entire tide has risen, but wages haven’t risen to keep up with it.”
Unlike other Gen Xers, he expects to receive a pension from his job as an IT administrator at a public college in Tennessee. This benefit should allow him to retire if he remains financially prudent, he said.
Hard to catch up
Some Gen Xers are aiming to help their children with college expenses, like J. Ashley Renfroe, 51, whose 17-year-old daughter will be a high school senior this fall. Renfroe said helping her pay for college will likely curtail his budget over the next several years, but that the financial decision is important to him.
“I’d rather she not start out with the burden of student loans, like I did, or my wife,” he said.
Renfroe, who works as a 401(k) plan administrator, noted that people over 50 are often urged to use catch-up contributions to bolster their retirement savings. Under IRS tax law, the savings limit for all workers is $24,500 in 2026, although people over 50 can contribute an extra $8,000 a year.
In his experience working in the retirement industry, he said, few can take advantage of that.
“The only people doing catch-up contributions are owners and shareholders in those businesses. The only other ones are very high earners,” Renfroe said, adding that his own pay isn’t enough for him to do so.
He added, “Everything in my industry is tone deaf. People don’t make enough to cover their cost of living or fully realize the benefit of saving into a 401(k).”
Social Security in crisis
Unlike other Gen Xers interviewed by CBS News, Renfroe doesn’t believe Social Security will exist by the time he retires. He said he expects to work until he dies.
“We’ve been telling people not to rely on Social Security. I’ve taken that to heart,” he said.
To be sure, Social Security’s trust fund is six years away from becoming insolvent, at which point the 70 million people who receive monthly benefits could see a 22% cut to their payments. Yet most retirement experts believe Social Security will continue to exist and that, given the potential political fallout, Congress is likely to shore up the program to avoid slashing benefits.
Barring a remedy, however, millions of Gen Xers could reach retirement age just as their Social Security benefits face a major hit.
If Social Security becomes insolvent, Branaman said, “Then it becomes: Am I living in a house, an apartment, a van down by the river? You really have to keep all options on the table and be open to adapting to that moment.”
In the meantime, the Gen Xers who spoke with CBS News noted that they’re talking to their children, who are in their teens and early 20s, about the importance of saving for retirement starting at an early age.
“No one talked to me about saving, budgeting, looking to the future,” said the 61-year-old in Los Angeles. “I came from a single-mother household, lower economic range, and she didn’t know.”
“So fortunately I’ve been able to educate my daughter, who is already light years ahead,” she added.
Some Gen Xers who spoke with CBS News expressed their generation’s trademark cynicism about retirement, stressing that they entered the workforce at a time when it was assumed that workers would know exactly how and when to save.
In recent years, legislation like the 2022 SECURE 2.0 Act has bolstered the retirement system by adding features such as automatic 401(k) enrollment and automatic escalation, which increase workers’ contribution rates over time. The Gen Xers felt like trying to catch up with their retirement savings in their 50s and early 60s would be difficult, if not impossible.
“I’m going to have to figure this thing out on my own, which is a very Gen X thing,” said Joshua, the IT administrator in Tennessee. “When you get to my age, and you don’t have a $1 million 401(k), you feel like a failure. There are more people closer to my situation than those with a $1 million 401(k).”
Edited by Alain Sherter