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Changes in the retirement system—from a later Social Security retirement age to a switch from defined benefit plans to 401(k) plans and IRAs—were expected to result in relatively less wealth from DB plans and Social Security and much more from 401(k)s and IRAs. But according to a brief from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, that has not been the case.

Instead, younger members of the boomer generation (ages 51–56), who might be expected to have accumulated more retirement wealth in 401(k)s/IRAs than older boomers after more of their careers were spent working for employers who offered defined contribution plans instead, are showing a "surprising drop" in IRA assets when compared with earlier groups at the same ages.

The brief points out that late boomers really got nailed in the Great Recession, with many still out of work even during the later recovery. But even those who managed to continue to work are coming up with the short end of the stick, hit by the triple whammy of lower earnings, less 401(k) participation, and flat 401(k) balances."