Gen Xers financial planning

I once was told that I'm not technically a gen-xer. According to some the line is drawn at 1975. Well since 1975 came and went and I was still a twinkle in my parent's eyes, I suppose I don't technically belong to that demographic. However this article is still applicable. One thing I've found that concerns me is I don't believe my generation saves enough. There are many ways to spend money, my peers and I all fall prey to these. Many of our parents had pensions, others live off of Social Security, however for our generation it isn't safe to believe either one of these will be in tact when we get to retirement age.

The article does provide quite a bit of hope in our generation. In fact this is a fantastic statement:

Gen-Xers also seem to take much greater responsibility for their future financial security than many of their parents did. That's partially because they're expecting little support from the government. According to the Fidelity study, only 39% of Americans ages 21-34 expect to rely somewhat or a lot on the government for support during retirement (Social Security, Medicare, and other benefits), compared to 51% of 35-54 year olds. Instead, notes the study, 82% of those age 21-34 expect to rely somewhat or a lot on their own personal savings for retirement income, compared to 63% for those age 55 and older.

I think it is fantastic that so many of my peers are actually thinking about this sort of thing early while they still have time to react to it.

For what it is worth, the above article comes from fidelity.com's "Investor's Weekly" which is a fantastic source for real world financial information.