Being the first generation to grow up with music videos (hello MTV) is pretty cool already, but this generation was also the first to witness cult classics like the Star Wars trilogy, Friends, Seinfield and The Simpsons.

Economically speaking, however, they weren’t as lucky. Gen Xers experienced the peaks of the 1970s economic recession and stagflation (triple whammy of high inflation, slow economy and high unemployment), the dot-com boom and bust, and of course the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC), yikes! 😬. And some of the older Gen X’s were lucky enough to be hit with the 1987 Black Friday crash too - just as they were entering their professional careers. 

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Gen Xers are also known as the ‘sandwich generation’ because they tend to be caring for both their aging parents and children at the same time. Unfortunately, this meant they started saving for retirement later (on average, from age 36) than the generations after them (on average, Millennials started at 27 and Gen Z at 20). 

💰 Money mindset: Due to the economic instability they experienced in their prime years of work, those born in this era tend to be cautious and responsible when it comes to money decisions. 

💰 Saving/spending habit: Gen Xers are focused on saving for retirement as both their short and long term priority. They are generally more budget conscious than Gen Y and Z, and are more likely to respond to rising cost of living pressures by reducing discretionary spending.  

💰 Investing mindset: Compared to younger generations, there is significantly greater use of superannuation and Australian shares, and they’re less likely to be direct investors, hold crypto or passive ETFs.

💰 Financial tech adoption: Gen X may use some digital financial tools like online banking, however, this is the least likely generation to source information from social media and ‘finfluencers’. 

The next time a Gen Xer asks for help with their internet banking, remember they didn’t grow up with the internet!! 

If you’re a Gen Xer, does this resonate with you?

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we’ll deep dive into the money minds of Gen Y.