Gen X Embraces $500 'Backward' Retirement Plan as Boomers' Forward Bets Show Mixed Results
Updated
Updated · Upworthy · Sep 11
Gen X Embraces $500 'Backward' Retirement Plan as Boomers' Forward Bets Show Mixed Results
1 articles · Updated · Upworthy · Sep 11
Summary
Gen X retirees are increasingly planning retirement around hobbies they already loved—such as bands, skateboarding and card games—rather than new pursuits, financial planner Benjamin Brandt said.
Brandt argues that "retiring backward" relies on evidence from earlier life, while many Boomers "retired forward" by betting they would enjoy activities like golf or gardening once work ended.
The shift reflects both observation and money pressure: Gen X has watched Boomers get mixed results from that approach and often has less financial cushion because pensions largely gave way to 401(k) plans.
A $500 exercise tied to age 13 helps clients test those instincts, Brandt said, by identifying youthful interests that still resonate and ruling out those that no longer do.
Brandt expects that approach to revive more 1980s and 1990s hobbies in retirement as Gen X designs longer later-life plans more deliberately.