Forty-three percent of baby boomers — the generation born between 1946 and 1964 — are worse off financially than they were a year ago, according to the results of a recent survey by Fidelity Investments.
The number declines in younger cohorts. Thirty-eight percent of Gen Xers — born between 1965 and 1980 — express that they are worse off than a year ago, compared with 32% of millennials — born between 1981 and 1996 — and 27% of Gen Z, born from 1997 through the 2010s.
Fewer boomers (13%) and Gen Xers (25%) said they are better off than a year ago, whereas 39% of millennials and 43% of Gen Zers said they are better off.
The Baby Boom generation was the most likely group to report collectively that their financial situation hadn’t changed during 2022 (44%), compared with members of 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,” Toby McInnis wrote in Moneyzine.
Ninety-four percent of the survey respondents overall said that they are approaching financial new year’s resolutions differently than they have in the past. Forty-five percent of them said they are considering more conservative goals in the current economic climate.
The rainy day fund is not what it used to be, according to respondents. Among those who experienced a financial setback in the past year, 44% said that they had had to dip into their emergency funds to make ends meet.
The percentage of individuals who believe they’ll be better off in the coming year (65%) decreased from 72% in the previous year’s study.
According to the survey, Americans are more interested this year (67%) in 2023 in improving their financial health over their mental health (33%). The one-third of respondents who indicated that they favor their mental health over financial health were more likely to be women (35%, versus 30% of men).
The good news, according to Fidelity, is that Americans in general expressed having a positive relationship with money. Fifty-eight percent were mostly positive, compared with the 42% that were mostly negative about their relationship with money. Women were more likely than men to say that their relationship with money is “stressful” (36%, versus 26% for men.)
