{"id":358218,"date":"2025-11-05T20:35:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:35:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358218\/"},"modified":"2025-11-05T20:35:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T20:35:29","slug":"the-retirement-no-no-gen-zers-are-doing-more-than-boomers-and-other-generations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/358218\/","title":{"rendered":"The Retirement No-No Gen Zers Are Doing More Than Boomers and Other Generations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A 2025 study by Payroll Integrations<\/a> found that nearly half (46%) of Gen Z workers have already raided their retirement<\/a> accounts. Compare that to just 31% of millennials, who have had more time in the workforce to tap retirement savings (but mostly haven\u2019t).<\/p>\n

Beyond triggering tax bills and penalties, raiding your retirement accounts also cripples your money\u2019s ability to compound over time.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Discover More: Here\u2019s Why Gen Z Is Embracing Frugal Living, According to Brian Jung<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Find Out: 5 Clever Ways Retirees Are Earning Up To $1K Per Month From Home<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cA 22-year-old investor that saves $10,000 annually at 8% returns would have nearly $2.8 million at age 62,\u201d explains financial advisor Chris Nemes of Nemes Rush Family Wealth Management<\/a>. \u201cIf they withdraw all their retirement funds in their twenties and restart saving $10,000 per year at age 32, their balance at age 62 would be around $1.2 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why committing this massive retirement no-no could hurt Gen Z\u2019s chances of enjoying their golden years<\/a>.<\/p>\n

According to the study, 37% of all workers who tapped their retirement funds did so to cover emergency expenses. Another 19% did so for housing-related costs.<\/p>\n

While some younger workers raided their retirement savings for these reasons (25% and 17% respectively), they disproportionately did so for another reason: To pay off debt<\/a>. Forty-two percent of Gen Z workers used retirement money to pay off debts, compared to 6% of millennials, 17% of Gen X and 0% of boomers.<\/p>\n

Natalia Brown, chief consumer affairs officer at National Debt Relief<\/a>, said this tracks with the deepening debt load they\u2019re seeing for younger adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur data at National Debt Relief shows that about one-third of Gen Zers already feel financially \u2018underwater,’\u201d Brown noted.<\/p>\n

Learn More: Dave Ramsey Warns This Common Habit Can Ruin Your Retirement<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Between taxes, penalties, lost contributions, and lost compounded returns, workers should avoid raiding their retirement accounts at nearly all costs. But with younger workers struggling under debt, many don\u2019t know what to do instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have credit card debt, try transferring it to a credit card with a 0% promotional rate,\u201d proposes financial planner Brian Harrison of SAVVI Financial<\/a>. That can buy you 12 to 18 months without interest payments, to pay off your balance.<\/p>\n

Even as you funnel money toward paying down debts, put a little money toward an emergency fund<\/a> from each paycheck. Life throws plenty of curveballs, and you need cash ready for the next one that comes your way.<\/p>\n

Harrison also notes that you should keep contributing enough money toward your workplace retirement account to get the full matching contribution<\/a> (if any).<\/p>\n

\u201cIf an employer matches contributions 50 or 100%, that\u2019s an immediate return higher than the interest rate on the debt,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

If saving money for retirement, emergencies and debt paydown leaves you strapped, you might also need to approach the problem from the other direction: Earning more money.<\/p>\n

\u201cUp your income by pursuing a raise, starting a side hustle or selling things you no longer use,\u201d urges Bobbi Rebell, financial planner with CardRates.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Spending less while working more may not sound like fun \u2014 but it beats running out of money in retirement.<\/p>\n

More From GOBankingRates<\/strong><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com<\/a>: The Retirement No-No Gen Zers Are Doing More Than Boomers and Other Generations<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A 2025 study by Payroll Integrations found that nearly half (46%) of Gen Z workers have already raided…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":358219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[64,3991,3634,255,700,696,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-358218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-personal-finance","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gen-z","10":"tag-national-debt-relief","11":"tag-personal-finance","12":"tag-retirement","13":"tag-retirement-savings","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115499009492333465","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}