Generation X and $

Did you know that 6 out of 10 Canadians live paycheque to paycheque.

Did you know that more than half of us spend more than we earn every year

Did you know the average credit card balance is $8000 per household

Stats show that about 50% of us spend more than we earn each year and only half of Canadians pay their credit cards off in full each month, the majority of the other half paying only the minimum balances. 
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Generation X is the name given to those born from aprox 1966 - the late 70's early 80's.  This age group is especially caught up in the buy now pay later attitude and most affected by the  ‘keeping up with the joneses” syndrome.

Stats show that gen X'ers all expect to retire by the age of 60, some sooner, but very few are actually on track to do so.  Gen X is the largest consumer of leather sofas and big screen TVs with "no payments for 24 months" all just hoping they will have the cash to cover the payments in 2 years.  Gen X'ers typically don't buy economical used cars, instead they buy or lease brand new cars with payments they usually can't afford.  They also buy brand name designer clothes and eat out a lot.  
Of course we are grouping all Gen X'ers together here when obviously not all actually do spend like this. I just think its interesting how Gen X which I am apart of is totally drowning in a 'material goods world' ("totally" is totally a Gen X word!) We are now more than ever inclined to define ourselves by what we possess.  When it comes to our financial well being we seem to care more about buying the flash to impress others, but who are we really trying to impress? strangers?  and do they really care how well we sleep at night worrying about our financial situations?

How many times have you asked yourself “ how do they afford all those toys? The brand new cars, the clothes, the gadgets?”  well the truth is more often than not THEY actually cannot afford any of it.  THEY are in the 50% of Canadians that are in credit debt.  I am not talking about mortgage debt here, that’s a good type of debt to be in as long as its within reason.  I am talking about car loans, credit cards maxed out, and the worst- the buy now pay later on furniture, appliances, electronics.  Debt towards investments that appreciates or provides a cash flow is ok.  Its the debt on depreciating assets that gets us in trouble.

In my experience I have watched as people have got serious about their financial situations and have become truly happy inside once they feel they are on track and financially stable and the funny thing is once in that position the extra money seems to find these people and they can splurge on toys and not feel the guilt.  The interesting thing is when these people come into extra money they seem to get more of a rush investing it than they would splurging it.  Its a feeling secure and in control of your world type rush.

I say - today is a new day, a new day to start working for yourself, start paying yourself by putting your money to work for you.  Yes of course you should still splurge on yourself as long as its with excess money, as long as you are not going into debt to do so and as long as you are paying yourself 1^st.  Pay yourself 1^st…what does that mean? It could be any type of savings or investment.  My pick of course would be real estate. But it could be anything- a simple savings account, mutual funds.  One of the best things you can do is forced savings.  Set it up as a direct transfer from your account, every month that money is transferred out and eventually you wont miss it, its forced savings.  Putting money into investments and creating a nest egg for your future may not be as cool as a flashy new truck but you may sleep better at night. Feeling financially stable may also do wonders for your health and home life with reduced stress!  Financial problems are the # 1 cause of stress and the #1 subject that couples fight about.

 

Deciding to not worry and think about the future is a bit risky these days as pensions and retirement benefits are disappearing and may not be around by the time we retire.  We are also living a lot longer and therefore needing more money in our senior years.  Many Gen X'ers are also going be looking after their own parents financially as their parents will be the first generation to outlive their own retirement savings and many of them will be in need financial assistance.  

OKAY enough doom and gloom!  The exciting thing is we are in control of our own financial worlds.  We really just need to ask ourselves what our priorities are. It really is not about how much money we make, it truly is about what we do with that money.