Each generation handles money in a different way. Afterall, people have grown up in different eras, they place value on different commodities, and some are busy saving for retirement while some are squirreling away their pennies in order to see the world one day. Attitudes towards saving money are most certainly generational, and there are plenty of assumptions people tend to jump to about these attitudes.
Boomers : Baby Boomers often have a lot to say about the younger generations, but in reality, the financial landscape has traditionally been more in their favour than it has for any generation after them. They are generally referred to as the ‘wealthiest generation’ and People in this generation are good at saving, but not necessarily because they’ve had to be, more likely because they just can. They are a generation who inherited a frugal attitude from their parents’ generation, who lived through rationing.
Xers: Sometimes known as the ‘forgotten generation’, Generally, they’ve seen more financial strife than the Boomers before them, but this doesn’t put them off spending! They’re more likely to be splashing out on eating at restaurants, new smart phones, and going to the cinema than saving their pennies. On top of this, many of them are splitting the funds that they have saved between caring for their elderly parents and supporting their ‘boomerang’ children, who are likely to return to live at home at some point during their mid-twenties.
Gen Y’s Next are Millennials who are often thought to extravagantly frit away all of their money. The older group within this generation was hit by the 2008 financial crash, while younger millennials faced extortionate university costs and difficulty breaking into the job market. Despite this, millennials are the generation that is most comfortable with making short term sacrifices in order to save for future experiences.
Gen Z’s Finally, we reach Generation Z, a group of savvy digital natives. Unsurprisingly, there are many similarities between Gen Z and millennial saving attitudes. This is largely down to aptitude with technology and their preference towards mobile banking. Most Gen Z savers check their bank balance at least once a day and are likely to use savvy banking apps that allow them to move their money around between their accounts and know exactly how much they are managing to save. Like older generations, Gen Z still enjoys treating themselves and living life to the full, but they are more likely to seek discounts and schemes to do so. There are many different factors that feed into these saving tendencies, and most of the time, generational attitudes towards saving can be put down to the state of the economy as a whole during different eras. However, it’s all about finding the right balance for you and your personal finances, whatever tribe you are part of!
Find out in this episode – where Money expert and one of India’s leading Mutual Fund Distributors Mr. Mithun Jathal talks about the importance of financial literacy and money in the context of Gen Z. He helps us to understand the key trends and financial quotient that we see in Gen Z in India (urban vs. rural dimensions). Specifically how do we help this generation become better in the different aspects of money : Planning (Budgets), Savings, Borrowing, and Income. Finally, how do we sustain good money practices now and in the future and what are some of the key Do’s and Don’ts with money for Gen Z.
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