26% of Gen Xers Risk Retirement Struggles for This Reason

Though Gen Xers may not be on the cusp of retirement, older members of that generation may only have a decade or so left in the workforce before calling it quits. And that means they need to take retirement-planning seriously -- namely, by assessing their savings and determining what their various income streams will look like once their careers come to a close. But 26% of Gen Xers may be setting themselves up for disaster in that regard for one big reason: They expect Social Security to be their primary source of income during their senior years.

While 38% of Gen Xers expect personal savings to serve as their main income stream during retirement, according to a recent Transamerica survey, 26% are putting that same pressure on Social Security -- and that's not a good thing for a couple of reasons.

First, Social Security will only replace about 40% of the typical worker's pre-retirement income. Most seniors, however, need roughly twice that amount of income to maintain a decent lifestyle, and while it's possibly to adapt some frugal habits, getting by primarily on Social Security is a difficult thing to do.

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Source Fool.com