Robert Brokamp

Will these projections end up being accurate?

Probably not, at least not exactly.

But I do think it makes sense to assume lower future returns when you do any sort of analysis of your financial plan, such as, you know, using a retirement calculator to determine how much you need to save and when you can stop working.

I've said on the show before that I assume a 6% return when I run my numbers, but given the extraordinary returns we've had over the past few years and today's current valuations, I think I'll notch that down a percentage point.

After all, I'm an older member of Gen X, and we all should be taking careful stock of whether we are on track to retire how and when we want, which will be our next topic of conversation when Motley Fool Monday continues.

Pull out your mixtapes and your John Hughes VHS tapes because it's time to talk about Generation X, that cohort born between 1965 and 1980 that is now or soon will be in the fourth quarter of their careers.

So are they prepared for retirement?

Here to tell us is Kerry Hannan, a senior columnist for Yahoo Finance and the co-author of Retirement Bites, a Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future.

Kerry, welcome to Motley Fool Money.

Hey, it's great to be here, Robert.

Love the book.

I love the fact that you have all kinds of great references to Gen X, I being an older Gen Xer myself.

So let's start with just the stats.

Generally speaking, how is Gen X doing when it comes to being prepared for retirement?

Exactly.

I think one of the issues, of course, is that the way that American safe retirement has changed significantly over the past 50 years, just as Gen X was entering the workforce coming of age.

What would you say are some of the changes that have had the biggest impact on Gen X?

Yeah, the 401ks came about, as you said, in really the early 80s, but it took a while for them to proliferate.

And they just weren't that great at the beginning.

High costs, maybe two or three options.