Inflation harming retirement plans

Every time we go shopping, we are reminded that inflation is continuing to increase and affects more than just what you pay for things. It also impacts retirement. According to an article by CNBC, 3% of Gen Xers and baby boomers say they have postponed or considered delaying plans to leave the workforce due to soaring costs. Wayne Goshkarian of the Association for Entrepreneurship USA talked about how retirement is getting harder to obtain due to inflation.

Who is inflation hitting the hardest in this demographic?

“About 5% of the population at retirement are either wealthy or financially well off,” Goshkarian said.

The rest of the population, like Gen X and baby boomers, are relying off their savings to retire, but due to prices rising, they may have to work longer than planned to make sure they will have enough money to support themselves. Goshkarian said we have a problem for saving for the future, but inflation is ruining our saving plans. This is causing people to reevaluate their spending and think about what they should be doing to save up for the future.

How is this affecting people?

“It’s effecting their travel, the food they’re eating, and really everything,” Goshkarian said. “I think they’re figuring out how to survive at the end of the day.”

Cutting out life essentials like food and household necessities are what is taking a toll on people’s lives and making them work longer than expected.

What are people doing to help combat this issue?

Gen X and baby boomers have been finding new ways to support themselves like becoming entrepreneurs and being self employed. Goshkarian said people are starting to find new opportunities like working for Uber or Etsy, that way they can work on their own time and won’t have to worry about commuting to a 9-5 job that could keep costing them money because of rising gas prices.