Those born between 1965 and 1980 are poorer than their parents were at their age

[astr0144]

10 things Generation X won't tell you

Unlike previous generations, those born between 1965 and 1980 are poorer than their parents were at their age.


1. We're poorer than our parents were at our age

Few people have been through as many economic ups and downs as the members of Generation X. Born between 1965 and 1980, any entered the workforce during the boom years of the Clinton administration—but then along came 9/11 and, a few years later, the Great Recession.

Over the last two decades, Americans born during the Depression and World War II—known as "The Silent Generation"—have been shedding debt, while boomers and Generation X have been accumulating it. As of 2010, Generation X's assets were only double their debts, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Silent Generation's asset levels were 27 times higher than their debts, while older boomers' assets were about four times higher.

"In the U.S. the expectation is that every generation does better than the last one, but that has not been the case for Generation X," says Signe-Mary McKernan, senior fellow and economist at the Urban Institute, a nonprofit organization that focuses on social and economic policy. "Xers have less wealth than their parents at their age did 25 years ago."

Starting life with higher student-debt loads than boomers did also made it harder for Gen Xers to get financially established, experts say (though, to be sure, millennials are shouldering even more student debt than Xers).

One bright spot: Adjusted for inflation, the median family income for Xers when they were aged 26 to 40 is $71,100, versus $63,100 for their parents at that age, according to Pew. Given their age, they still have a robust earning potential. "They are arguably better educated than any generation before them—43% graduated from college," write the authors of a 2013 report on Gen Xers carried out by GfK Custom Research North America for MetLife. "They have significant staying power."

2. Marketers and the media are ignoring us

Given that Generation Xers are in their late 30s and 40s now, they are—at least in theory—nearing their peak income and spending power. But marketers are more fascinated by the millennials and baby boomers, says Sharalyn Hartwell, executive director at research and consulting firm Frank N. Magid Associates.

Population numbers help explain the attention gap. There are 89 million millennials (also known as Generation Y, born roughly between 1981 and 1996) and 75 million boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) in the U.S., compared with just 49 million Gen Xers. Given those numbers, the spending habits of millennials and investing trends of baby boomers are important for companies to understand, Hartwell says. The fact that Gen Xers make more money than the average millennial, by virtue of being older and farther along the pay scale, only partly offsets this.

"It is ironic Generation X have been upstaged by the younger generation and left on the shelf," Hartwell says. "They were the original latchkey kids, and already feel like they were forgotten and neglected by their own parents."

Even the term Generation X wasn't invented for them. Photographer Robert Capa coined the term in a photo essay about the young adults of the 1950s (basically, the parents of those we call Gen Xers), according to Paul Taylor, executive vice president for special projects at the Pew Research Center and author of "The Next America: Boomers, Millennials and the Looming Generational Showdown." Writer Douglas Coupland is credited with salvaging the 'X' label with his 1991 novel, "Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture."

Perhaps appropriately enough, only 41% of people who belong to the generation say they identify with the "Generation X" moniker, according the MetLife report.

3. We bought our own MTV cribs—and we regret it.

One of the main reasons Gen Xers are in such bad shape economically, says McKernan: "Many bought their first homes just before the housing market crashed." Surging house prices in the first part of this century helped build wealth for people who bought homes before the year 2000, but many people now in their 30s and 40s bought at bubble prices—and are still suffering today.

Buyers who bought between 2000 and 2006 "didn't have much equity even before prices started falling" says Jed Kolko, chief economist at real estate website Trulia. House values have still not recovered fully, despite the recession being officially over: They fell by 34% from the 2006 peak to the fourth quarter of 2011, and have risen 23% since then, as measured by the Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.

From 2007 to 2010, the median net worth of Gen Xers fell by nearly half (45%), according to Pew, with declining home equity accounting for much of the drop. In contrast, median net worth among boomers, who had more time to build up wealth other than home equity, fell between 25% and 28%.



http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-generation-x-won-190133283.html

[WarToad]

I'm finding this article certainly doesn't match me, as a Gen-X-er.  Or my siblings. Or my friends.  I was born in 1966.  I was the fist of my family to go to college.  The first to live/travel extensively abroad (on my own dime).  To work for American and International corporations.  To become a professional with little letters after my name, to climb the Corp ladder. (which... meh... is a tradeoff)  My income is far more than my fathers ever was. (though I believe he worked far harder)  My net worth 30 years younger is more than theirs now, my house is paid off. 

I'm just very disconnected from how the author is trying to paint me, my friends, my siblings, my peers.  Thanks to the love, support, encouragement, and push from my parents, I am better off.