Retirement Confidence Continues to Lag Among Gen X

The key to helping Gen X is to try to banish apathy, according to new FICO research. 

A new FICO survey highlights the big challenges faced by Generation X, also commonly referred to as the “sandwich generation,” due to substantial financial obligations to both aging parents and young children.

According to FICO survey data gathered from 1,000 U.S. survey respondents, only 32% of Gen X say they are confident they will reach their long-term investing goals, while 41% feel they need to save more for the future than they are today.

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Tim Van Tassel, vice president of FICO’s credit lifecycle business line, says the survey confirms genuine anxiety felt by Gen X about debt and saving levels in the aftermath of the 2008 recession.

“The sandwich generation is often financially overwhelmed by the competing obligations of having to care for both kids and aging parents,” Van Tassel warns. “This obstacle to saving means they have a real concern about a potential retirement income shortfall.”

The FICO research finds Generation X is the least confident about reaching long-term financial goals, compared with 45% confidence among older Millennials and 46% confidence among younger Millennials. Boomers are only a little more confident (36%) than Gen X.

“A core group of Gen X are paying down debt and improving their position,” Van Tassel adds. “However, this is a struggle for many people in this group. Numerous people in the survey said they were struggling with a drop in real income levels along with high credit card debt. Simple customer engagement strategies focused on cross-selling additional products aren’t going to be effective with these consumers. They want intelligent, personalized recommendations that will help them meaningfully improve their financial security.”

For financial institutions, Van Tassel says the goal to helping Gen X is to try to banish apathy.

“Present them with financial products and solutions that build trust and help them navigate issues like debt before a competitor does,” he concludes. “We are seeing the industry’s innovators using analytics to create appealing offerings that are tailored to the customer, allowing them to build repeat business and reduce churn.”

Additional research and information from FICO is available here

A Little Friday File Fun

In Brighton, England, a Ferrari driver ignored warning signs about not parking on the ninth level of the city’s marina parking deck overnight on Saturdays. He returned Sunday morning to find his sports car surrounded by stalls, vendors and shoppers. The Marina holds a flea market on that deck on Sundays. “He had to drive through the market making sure he didn’t hit any customers or traders’ goods that they spread out on the floor,” a witness who filmed the incident told video site Newsflare.               

In Muskogee, Oklahoma, police arrested a man on six felony warrants and were leading him to a police car when he made an unusual request. “I asked the officer if I could propose,” the man told CNN. “The officer said, ‘You want to do what?’ and I said, ‘I want to propose to her.’” In police body camera footage of the encounter, the man can be heard telling his girlfriend, “I love you. Will you be my wife, please?” The girlfriend agreed and an officer switched the man’s handcuffs from the back to the front so he could place the engagement ring on her finger.

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In San Francisco, California, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing arguments in a case about whether a monkey owns the rights to his selfies. A lower court judge ruled against the monkey last year, saying there was no indication that Congress intended to extend copyright protection to animals. According to the Associated Press, the monkey is a free-living crested macaque who snapped the pictures with an unattended camera in Sulawesi, Indonesia, in 2011. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sought a court order in 2015 allowing it to administer all proceeds from the photos to benefit the monkey. British nature photographer David Slater, whose camera the monkey used, says the British copyright for the photos obtained by his company, Wildlife Personalities Ltd., should be honored worldwide.

In Bismarck, North Dakota, the state wants to preserve the 10,000-square-foot home that has housed North Dakota’s governor for 57 years, while making way for a larger $5 million mansion. It is accepting proposals from people who can have the home if they can move it. The home needs to be moved by September. A home that size and old could cost at least $250,000 to move, said a local house mover, according to the Associated Press.

In Lakefield, Massachusetts, a man has gotten drivers to slow down for years with the help of a life-sized cutout of a police cruiser posted in his driveway. He told WFXT-TV he got the life-sized Crown Victoria sign from a friend who owned a salvage yard. He puts it outside his home on weekends and during holidays to slow down drivers in the area. The sign is reflective at night. He says town police are OK with the sign, but some passing drivers have given offensive hand gestures.

In Ross, Pennsylvania, a homeowner tied the battery-operated clock to a string in September 2004 and lowered it inside the wall so the beeping alarm would pinpoint the spot he needed to drill for a TV cable. But the clock fell off the string and has been beeping at 6:50 p.m. or 7:50 p.m. each day, depending on whether it’s Daylight Savings Time. A heating and air contractor saw the story on the local CBS news station, and went to the homeowners to offer to remove it. After nearly 14 years, the clock has been removed through a garage vent.

In Mankato, Minnesota, a couple had their dream wedding and asked the bride’s 92-year-old grandmother to be the flower girl. According to the local NBC News station, pushing her walker down the grass aisle, she tossed a path of flower petals as guests cheered and applauded. As she finished her duties and sat down, she said with a laugh, “That was hard work!”

When you just can’t get to, or afford going to, the amusement park.

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A news reporter’s frustration is caught on camera.

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