The Next Generation Might Be the Smartest about Money

I won’t tell you exactly how old I am, but I’m a Gen Xer. In my teen years, we were deemed the “Slacker Generation.” Time Magazine put “slackers” on the cover. It was quite unfair, except in one respect.

My generation hasn’t done the best job teaching subsequent generations about financial responsibility. Since Gen X – born between 1965 and 1980 – inherited the workplace, personal debt has skyrocketed. I won’t bore you with all the details, but the biggest warning signs are…

• Credit card debt jumped from $111 billion in 1980 to $600 billion in 2000
• Student loan debt skyrocketed from $8 billion to $52.4 billion in the same two decades
• Auto loan debt rose from $80 billion to $550 billion in the same time period

I’m not being simplistic here. I know macro-economic trends were at play here. However, it’s not unfair to say Gen X didn’t handle those challenges with much success. After all, our parents and grandparents survived the Great Depression and World War II on better financial footing than we have so far – and recent research proves it.

Debt that knows better

Here’s just one recent example: “Generation Xers were most likely to find the cost of travel less affordable than in 2025, yet were the least restrained from making travel plans.” That’s from a new Experian survey of more than 1,000 consumers conducted last month. 

It’s depressing because we might be the first generation to fully grasp the basics of financial responsibility – and ignore them. We were the first generation of adults able to surf the web and find answers to any questions we had. If our parents wanted to understand debt-to-income ratio or even basic budgeting, they had to go to the library or call a financial planner.

So as the Experian survey shows, we know when we shouldn’t spend money, but we do it anyway. What example are we setting for our children? We’re like my friend’s parents when I was growing up. You know the ones: They’d smoke cigarettes but tell us not to. “Do as I say, not as I do.”

The best is yet to come

It’s quite possible that our own children have internalized what we’ve done and are doing it differently.

“Today’s parents are the first generation where a majority are choosing to have open conversations with their kids about money – and at an early age,” says Arijit Roy, head of consumer and business banking products at U.S. Bank. 

His bank also conducted a poll last month. This one quizzed 3,000 adults on how they learned about money and how they’re teaching it. The telling results…

Nearly 9 in 10 parents said they feel comfortable talking to their children about money, signaling a significant shift toward transparency and early financial education. About two-thirds of parents said they have already started, or plan to start, teaching basic money management concepts before their children turn 12.

While the poll found “less than half (49%) of Baby Boomers said money was discussed growing up,” Millennials are overwhelmingly making it a pillar of their parenting. The internet might have all the answers, but strong financial family values can make it a way of life.

Here’s hoping the next generation looks at personal debt in the same quaint way my generation looked at Model T’s and the Twist.