Millennials are getting older – and their pitiful finances are a timebomb waiting to go off

theguardian.com:

Millennials are old. The most senior in this demographic cohort are now pushing 42 and many will have careers, mortgages, children and may be starting to plan for the rest of their lives.

Maybe they hope to follow in the footsteps of their grandparents and parents. Logging off work for good, they’ll dip into their pension pot and enjoy a holiday somewhere warm or finally take up that long-delayed hobby. I’m here as the ghost of retirement future to tell you that there’s a strong chance this won’t be happening.

According to Which?, an individual or couple respectively need £19,000 and £26,000 a year to enjoy a “comfortable retirement” comprising regular short-haul holidays, hobbies and the odd tipple. However, the problem facing millennials is that their private, workplace and state pension pots are all likely to be less full than those of previous generations.

The rule of thumb with pensions is that it’s best to save as much as you can as early as possible in order to make the most of the eighth wonder of the world, compound interest. But try applying this guidance during a financial sector crash, a pandemic and a cost of living crisis. It’s not surprising that only about a quarter of millennials have done “a great deal of planning or thinking” about retirement when it costs so much to live in the now.

Exorbitant rents and house prices have caused delays in saving for retirement, and pose an ongoing threat to financial stability in the future. According to the comprehensiveResolution Foundation intergenerational audit, the proportion of millennial family units living in the private rented sector at the age of 30 is more than three times the rate of the baby boomer generation – and they are paying more. Average monthly rent