Generation X Prefers Annuities to Stock Market
Oct 14, 2025
Generation X Prefers Annuities to Stock Market
Oct 14, 2025
As the oldest Gen-Xers turn 60 this year, financial security issues are becoming more important to them. A recent USA Today story noted that Baby Boomers are expected to bequeath $124 trillion to their heirs through 2048. And the Alliance for Lifetime Income’s 2025 Protected Retirement Income and Planning (PRIP) study revealed that following an inheritance, more than 2/3rds of Gen Xers preferred the security of an annuity over the unpredictability of the stock market.
Only 14% of the 65 million Americans born between 1965 and 1980 known as Generation X have access to a traditional pension. It’s not surprising then that 69% of Gen-Xers would opt for the guaranteed lifetime income from an annuity over the stock market if they inherited $100,000.
Offered by life insurers, annuities are the only product in the private marketplace that provide steady guaranteed income for life like a traditional pension.
Other highlights of the PRIP study reveal that only 41% of Gen Xers are confident their savings and income will last throughout retirement and 37% anticipate delaying retirement. It also notes Gen-Xers plan to rely less on Social Security (44%) than Baby Boomers (62%).
“Our findings show that Gen-Xers have doubts about the future of Social Security, and so they will see the virtue of creating their own personal pension by converting some of their savings in employer sponsored plans into annuities,” said Jason Fichtner, Executive Director of the Retirement Income Institute in a news release.
They’ll be joining a growing group of annuity buyers across the country. Annuity purchases in the U.S. rose to a record high of $119.5 billion in the second quarter of 2025, according to LIMRA.
As more Americans recognize the importance of guaranteed lifetime income in their retirement planning, it is essential that public policy is aligned to ensure savers’ access to annuities.
Jim Szostek
Jim Szostek is Vice President & Deputy, Retirement Security at the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). He helps guide ACLI policy on legislation and regulations affecting the U.S. retirement system. Prior to joining ACLI in 2008, he held positions at CIGNA and The Hartford.
