Sandwich generation lacking enough savings

Little left after raising kids, aiding parents

If you’re helping pay the expenses of your child and possibly your parent too, you may not have much cushion left for yourself.

Nearly four in 10 middle-age Americans have no emergency savings fund and a third have less than $25,000 socked away for retirement as many grapple with the financial strain of helping support children, aging parents or both, according to a survey by PNC Financial Services provided exclusively to USA TODAY.

“We can see that the sandwich generation is struggling to save for their own needs,” says Rich Ramassini, director of strategy and sales performance for PNC Investments. “When you add in the demands associated with financially supporting children and/or elderly family members now or in the future, it paints a very grim picture for this demographic’s future unless they take immediate action.”

The “sandwich generation” refers to the cohort of adults with financial obligations to both children and parents.

The results of the online survey of 36to 60-year-olds, conducted in August, are broadly consistent with the Federal Reserve findings earlier in the year that 40 percent of adults can’t cover a $400 emergency expense, or would have to borrow or sell something to do so.

The PNC poll provides a clearer picture of the struggles of middle-aged Americans who should be in better financial shape and preparing for retirement. While 38 percent of those surveyed have no emergency fund, another 31 percent have a reserve that would last less than six months in case they lost a

job or faced a similar unforeseen loss of income, according to the survey.

Devon Mosesel, 46, of Columbia, South Carolina, helps support her 25year-old daughter and 67-year-old mother, both of whom live with her. Mosesel says she pays the bulk of the household expenses, such as groceries. Partly as a result, Mosesel, a state government worker, says she has savings that would pay only about two months of living expenses in an emergency.

“After that, I’d have to do something,” says Mosesel. She already lives frugally, she says, not going out to dinner or movies.

Her daughter works as an aide for homebound sick and elderly. “She’s underemployed,” Mosesel says. “If I can get her good, I can focus on me being good.”

The sandwich generation is also behind on saving for retirement. Thirtytwo percent have less than $25,000 squirreled away and more than half have $100,000 or less. The average nest egg: $170,340.

Eight percent of those surveyed are providing financial support to both elderly family members and children. Forty-five percent assist one or the other. And 47 percent don’t support either.

Among all survey respondents, 25 percent support children under 18, 17 percent support children over 18, and 16 percent are helping parents or other older family members. Yet 32 percent expect to help support an elderly family member in the next five to 10 years. Only one in five have planned for those expenses.

Sixty-one percent of those without a plan say they’re stressed about their finances, compared with 24 percent who have a plan.