Dracut, Massachusetts Dinner at Gomez’s residence in the Boston town of Dracut means feeding three generations.
“It’s crazy,” Alicia Gomez told CBS News of the seven family members living together under one roof. “We are raising my niece and nephew. My mother lives with us and my sister lives with us.”
Alicia, 56, is the chief operating officer of a nonprofit, and her husband, Cho Gomez, 58, works in logistics. They are part of what is called “Sandwich generation“From workers who support young relatives and elderly parents.
“I equate it to a turkey sandwich, because the club sandwich has a lot of layers, and we have a lot of layers,” Alicia said.
Intergenerational arrangements like these represent nearly five million American families, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They can easily wreak havoc Retirement plans.
“We were thinking at 62, we can retire at 62 and still be young,” Chu said. “And one day she said, ‘You’re going to work until you’re 70, right?’ I’m like, ‘I think so.’”
According to labor economist Teresa Ghilarducci of the New School for Social Research in New York, people in their 50s need to save as much of their income as possible.
“In your 50s, you may be under pressure to help your adult children,” Ghilarducci said. “You may even be pressured to help your older parents. But don’t sacrifice your retirement savings.”
The Gomez family is saving, but they also have more than $500,000 in debt, including home, car and college loans for their two daughters.
Chu doesn’t expect to have his college loans paid off until he’s 71.
“Yes, we will keep it for a long time,” Zhou said.
While the Gomez family has a nest egg, it’s not a large one. For those in their 50s, there are many variables to take into consideration. They include having honest conversations about how long any help for relatives, such as older children, will last. There are other options to consider: Temporarily reduce retirement contributions to pay off any high-interest debt, such as credit cards. Hence, more importantly, enhancing savings.
Alicia says the couple makes enough money to cover their bills.
“We have enough, but this is not where we should be,” Alicia said. “God forbid, if one of us gets sick or we get laid off, what will that do to us financially?”
In fact, both Alicia and Cho were laid off in their 50s.
“Well, people in their 50s have a high chance of losing their professional jobs,” Ghilarducci said. “So watch your back, and keep your job.”
Alicia got consulting work and then was rehired, but it took Cho six months during the pandemic to find a new job.
“When you get laid off from your job… you can’t do the 401k thing,” Chu said. “So it was six months of my 401k not being put in there.”
During that period, Chu lost $13,000 401k contributionswhich was worth about $40,000 by the time of his retirement, according to calculations by John Kelly and the CBS News data team. This could have helped cover some retirement costs, such as health insurance. On average, a 65-year-old retiree should expect to spend a total of about $165,000 on health care throughout retirement, according to a Fidelity survey.
The pressure of retirement never lets up for the Gomez family.
“We didn’t know we would have to take care of so many family members,” Alicia said. “So, the unexpected…was a wake-up call…for us.”
Jill Schlesinger
