For many Millennials, the future may be dire indeed. A perfect storm of more debt, lower earnings, reduced home ownership, less wealth, and skimpier retirement savings relative to older generations suggests that many will experience a third-world standard of living in old age. The Center for Retirement Research reviews many of these concerns in a report examining whether Millennials will be ready for retirement.

“Many of today's workers will have inadequate income when they reach retirement,” the report begins, “but the prospects for Millennials seem more challenging than for the generations ahead of them.” CRR researchers count the ways Millennials are behind. Compared to Gen Xers and late Boomers at the same age...

• Their earnings are lower
• They are less likely to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan
• They are less likely to be covered by employer-provided health insurance
• They are less likely to be homeowners
• They are more likely to have student loans
• They have accumulated less wealth

“Millennials are well behind other cohorts at the same age even though they will live longer and receive less from Social Security relative to pre-retirement earnings,” the report concludes. The only good news is: “retirement is still a long way off for these Millennials.”