Gen X’s 3 Main Financial Struggles That Are Being Overlooked

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Gen Z may get a bad reputation for being clueless about money or unreliable in the workplace, but what about previous generations? If you were born between 1965 and 1980, you may know a thing or two about the financial struggles of an older generation that has been paid less attention: Gen X. In other words, Gen Z’s parents.

It turns out that many Gen Xers have a ton of financial stress, dealing with everything from a disappearing Social Security trust fund to not being able to afford proper healthcare. While they may not be as widely reported as those of Gen Z or millennials, Gen X is facing some pretty intense challenges too.

Here’s a look at a few of those financial challenges of the MTV generation that may be getting overlooked.

Working Too Hard

A survey of more than 1,000 hourly workers in America by Deputy showed the struggles for bother older and younger generations alike. No matter your long-term goals, if you can’t make a living or manage debt, it’s going to be difficult to retire comfortably.

While Gen Xers have been working their way through careers for some decades, the survey showed they’re having to turn to multiple jobs to make ends meet. The survey showed 81% of Gen Xers noted their current jobs don’t pay them enough to make them feel financially secure. That’s higher than Gen Zers (75%), millennials (73%) and 71% of baby boomers.

It’s just one of the financial problems impacting this generation.

Taking Care of Others

So what else is causing the struggles for Gen X? As you might guess, it’s a number of things, including helping their Gen Z children or boomer parents and shouldering the cost of care-taking. The price tag of future care can easily drain any Gen X nest egg, thanks to the nation’s shortage of affordable healthcare.

Members of Gen X should be at the peak of their earning potential, but instead find themselves crunched by factors like dual caregiving responsibilities. This may help at least partly explain why, sometimes, it seems that Gen X is the forgotten generation, especially when it comes to financial struggles.

They’re busy taking care of kids and their own parents, along with dealing with inflation and rising costs, so they may not be making time to take care of themselves and their own financial situations. 

Struggling With Retirement Savings

Retirement planning is another major concern for many members of Gen X. It’s not unwarranted either, as Gen X may be struggling more than other generations in recovering from the Great Recession of 2008.

Gen X came into the workforce as pensions were going away big time, leaving them to build their own savings with individual retirement options. Unfortunately, they have less time left to build up these accounts before they reach retirement age, which circles back to the issue of working more as they get older to build up savings. It’s a vicious cycle.

Caitlyn Moorhead contributed to the reporting for this article.

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