New Jackson Study Finds the "Sandwich Generation" Squeeze Comes from More Than Two Sides and It's Quietly Draining Retirement Savings

Glen Franklin, Assistant Vice President of Research, RIA and Lead Generation Strategy, Jackson National Life Distributors LLC

“Retirement plans are designed to withstand market dips, inflation and rising healthcare costs. What catches people off guard is money moving out of their own household to address other areas such as a child's rent, a parent's care or a sibling's emergency”

Glen Franklin, Assistant Vice President of Research, RIA and Lead Generation Strategy, Jackson National Life Distributors LLC

“Our research shows these commitments are not necessarily one-time events, but rather an ongoing practice. Once a client’s family support becomes a recurring obligation rather than a surprise, it belongs directly in the financial plan next to the mortgage and the car payment, not off to the side.”

Andrew Eschtruth, Director, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College

“In addition to boosting awareness of family needs for financial support, it’s equally important to help investors plan ahead for how to handle them – so they don’t end up compromising their own retirement security.”

Glen Franklin, Assistant Vice President of Research, RIA and Lead Generation Strategy, Jackson National Life Distributors LLC

“Gen X investors face a collision of financial pressures that other generations have not experienced in quite the same way. They are still building toward retirement while supporting family members on multiple fronts and doing so in ways that can quietly undermine that progress. Using a retirement account or a credit card to help a loved one does not feel like a retirement risk in the moment. But compounded over time, it becomes one. Our goal is to give financial professionals the research they need to have these conversations proactively, so that family risk is part of the retirement plan — not an afterthought to it.”