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- Nearly half (43%) of boomers say they are worse off financially than this time last year - more than any other group.
- Just 13% of boomers say they are better off after 2022 - less than half as many as millennials or Gen-Z.
- However, boomers are also the group most likely to say their financial situation has not changed.
Few groups have been more economically fortunate than baby boomers. Having bought houses at a fourteenthof today’s market rates, people born in the two decades after World War Two owned just over half of all US household wealth in 2021. But new data suggests the financial advantage boomers have may have its downsides, too.
Moneyzine.com can reveal that boomers report being hit significantly harder than any other generation by 2022’s economic turmoil - offering a different lens through which to view the wealth gap between generations.
Boomers lost the most in 2022...
A recent survey asked American adults about how the previous 12 months had impacted their finances. The findings show that baby boomers saw more losses than any other generation, as well as fewer gains.
43% of boomers say they are worse off financially than this time last year, compared to 38% of Gen X, 32% of Millennials and 27% of Gen Z. Simultaneously, just 13% of boomers say they are better off after 2022 - compared with 25% of Gen X, 39% of Millennials and 43% of Gen Z.
Readers will note a perfect linear relationship between age and the financial impact of 2022, with older people faring worse than younger people at each level. However, this doesn’t simply mean younger people’s financial fate is brighter.
…But were also the most stable
While younger people experienced more active gains and fewer active losses, they were also less stable. Boomers were the most likely group to report that their financial situation hadn’t changed during 2022 (44%), compared to Gen X (36%) Millennials (29%) and Gen Z (30%).
It may therefore be that older generations simply have more to lose and less to gain. Major positive financial decisions and events - such as buying one’s first home, winning a key promotion or changing professions - are more likely to occur when people are younger, and have a more significant impact on an individual’s prospects.
Equally, younger generations are less likely to own assets which could suddenly dip in value - and therefore may be more immune to sudden shocks or rapid inflation.
Stability equals complacency?
Boomers’ relative stability helps explain a series of other findings. In the same survey where boomers were found to have been hit the hardest in 2022, they also appeared the most cavalier about the coming year.
Boomers were the least likely to make a financial new years’ resolution for 2023; the least likely to stay up-to-date with financial markets; and least likely to report they were going ‘plan ahead’ in the new year.
This suggests boomers are more complacent about their finances than other generations; whether this is a difference in attitudes or the product of relative economic comfort is still up for debate.
Boomers have often been portrayed as privileged relative to younger generations. But this data suggests that their privilege may not manifest in hoarding assets or being greedy - but actually not having to worry so much about money, even when things aren’t going their way!Jonathan Merry, CEO of Moneyzine.com
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