Happy birthday to me. Today I turn 48. I’m celebrating in an age-appropriate way: a trip to the physio for a stiff shoulder, then publishing some gloomy words about pensions. Being born in 1976 makes me part of what marketers called Generation X. Arguably though, the 1965 to 1980 cohort should be tagged the ‘Forgotten Generation’.

We talk and write a lot about generations and their supposed differences, in terms of attitudes and economic experiences. I’ve done my fair share of generation-journalism, but I’m not blind to its failings. I think a lot of those differences are overstated: culturally we all have more in common than the hot tales suggest. And generational commentary often compares the old – baby boomers – and the young – millennials and Gen Z.

If the forecast sounds grim, the reality will very likely be worse. What is an ‘adequate’ pension?

My lot, now aged between 44 and 64, are less noticed. Partly because we’re slightly less numerous (there are around 14 million people in Gen X) and maybe a little because our cultural contribution to Western civilisation is less than impressive: the Cold War raged and ended during our youth, but we didn’t notice because we were watching Knight Rider and listening to Belinda Carlile. (Yes, heaven is a place on earth.)

Nonetheless, we’re overdue some attention from policymakers because, put simply, we’re screwed. Or will be, whenever we try to retire. This is because we’re the people who have been failed by a public policy framework that hasn’t properly responded to one of the biggest changes in postwar British life that no-one noticed or talks about.

That change comes down to one letter: going from DB to DC. This dooms Gen X. DB stands for ‘defined benefit’, a pension where your employer guarantees you a certain amount of retirement income for every year you work. DC

QOSHE - The pension bomb facing Generation X - James Kirkup
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The pension bomb facing Generation X

5 9
15.02.2024

Happy birthday to me. Today I turn 48. I’m celebrating in an age-appropriate way: a trip to the physio for a stiff shoulder, then publishing some gloomy words about pensions. Being born in 1976 makes me part of what marketers called Generation X. Arguably though, the 1965 to 1980 cohort should be tagged the ‘Forgotten Generation’.

We talk and write a lot about generations and their supposed differences, in terms of attitudes and economic experiences. I’ve done........

© The Spectator


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