Baby Boomers Unprepared For Retirement

Baby Boomers who already feel sandwiched between financial obligations to children and aging parents can look forward to more of the same, plus unprecedented levels of debt for themselves in retirement. That is the sobering conclusion of a survey released by Allstate Financial, a business unit of The Allstate Corp., Northbrook, Ill. More than one in three Baby Boomers (37%) will be financially responsible for parents or children during retirement, and 7% will be financially responsible for both parents and children, according to the survey. In addition, Boomers will be saddled with extensive debt in retirement. Three out of five Baby Boomers (58%) surveyed expect to pay off debts when they retire, with 25% paying credit card debt, 37% paying car notes, and 27% paying a mortgage on their house. The survey also reveals that Baby Boomers have saved an average of only 12% of the total finances they will need to meet even basic living expenses in retirement.