Eighty-three percent regard Social Security with skepticism, wondering whether it will even be there by the time they need it. 

Also, while 57 percent now say they're on the path to recovery post the downturn, only 12 percent say they're fully recovered from the effects of the 2008-09 recession. No wonder most (54 percent) say they either won't retire at all or will have to continue to work after they turn 65. As might be expected, saving for retirement for this generation is not a top priority. 

Only 24 percent rate it as their first objective, with 48 percent more focused on other things, such as paying off debt (27 percent) or just paying basic expenses (21 percent). In addition, many of them took out loans (18 percent) from their retirement plans or even early withdrawals (10 percent). 

Congruent with that, 34 percent expect their standard of living to go down when they do retire and their estimated median level of retirement savings is only $70,000. 

This isn't the only gloomy Gen X survey to have come down the pike, of course. 

Notably, a 2013 study by Pew Charitable Trusts forecast that Gen Xers' median income replacement at age 65 will be 35 percent lower than for "early baby boomers," and a decrease of 9 percent compared with "late baby boomers." 

The Pew study said that only a third of Gen Xers have more wealth than their parents, even though they make more money. The double whammy of the housing market crash and the stock market implosion took care of much of their wealth. The study also hypothesized that Gen Xers might have to make do with half of their pre-retirement income in retirement, while boomers — admittedly not exactly in the catseat — will have to get along on slightly more, at 60 percent. 

And in a 2012 study by the Center of Retirement Research at Boston College, Gen Xers were also estimated to be poorly prepared for retirement compared with boomers. 

As previously reported here, the Employee Benefit Research Institute thinks some of this gloom and doom is overstated. These other studies, it says, are overlooking a couple of important factors. 

EBRI said that the Pew study, for one, is wrong because it "explicitly ignores future contributions to defined contribution plans." That, said EBRI, means that the results are skewed, since those future contributions will exert a "major positive impact" on Gen Xer savings for retirement. 

"Ignoring decades of potential future contributions (as the Pew study does) exaggerates the percentage of Gen X workers simulated to run short of money in retirement by roughly 10 to 12 percentage points among all but the lowest-income group," EBRI said. 

And what about the CRR report? That one's wrong, says EBRI, because it didn't consider the impact of auto enrollment and auto escalation that resulted from the Pension Protection Act of 2006 — whereas EBRI's own Retirement Security Projection Model accounts for future worker contributions to DC plans, as well as auto features incorporated into retirement plans. 

As a result, its findings differ substantially from the other two reports, finding that GenXers are pretty much as prepared for retirement as boomers.

In any case, the TransAmerica survey identifies opportunities for Gen Xers (and, presumably, their advisors) to improve long-term outcomes. 

Some are common sense, such as evaluating one's financial situation, calculating retirement savings needs and developing a retirement strategy. Others involve other people — a professional financial advisor, family members, friends. 

Still others might be a little tougher, such as finding the money to put into a retirement plan, if that's not already happening, or upping the contribution to take full advantage of employer matches. Or even working longer, finding additional work, and staying prepped to take full advantage of the job market — even if that means upgrading skills. 

One thing they shouldn't be doing, said Catherine Collinson, president of TransAmerica Retirement, is procrastinating. 

"Procrastination is the enemy," said Collinson. "Our survey found that 39 percent of Generation X workers prefer not to think about or concern themselves with retirement investing until they get closer to their retirement date."

And by then, it could well be too late.