Millennials and retirement: Not yet ready to save

Think baby boomers are the only ones agonizing over their retirement prospects? Think again. It appears 20-something Millennials – those between the ages of 20 and 29 – are just as fretful.

Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies (TCRS) and Aegon recently collaborated on a survey of workers in their 20s in 12 countries across the globe. What the responses reveal is that many in that age group are worried about their golden years, but have yet to make saving for retirement a top priority.

Conducted earlier this year, “The Changing Face of Retirement: The Young, Pragmatic and Penniless Generation,” is based on the responses of 2,722 people in their 20s living in Canada, China, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom the U.S.

More than half – 59 percent – of 20-something workers in those countries said they expect to be worse off financially than their parents’ generation. That percentage was slightly lower in the U.S. at 51 percent.

However, 57 percent concede they have yet to make saving for retirement a priority at this time in their lives even though they agree it’s important to do so. In the U.S., 55 percent of 20-somethings said they haven’t gotten around to building up their nest egg for retirement.

On the plus side, 35 percent of Millennial employees in the U.S. and 25 percent globally characterize themselves as “habitual savers” who are actively saving for retirement.

Pay me more and I’ll save more