Generation X is anything but uniform, especially when it comes to money. Often labeled the “forgotten generation,” Gen Xers are frequently treated as a single cohort in research and surveys. But advisors say clients on opposite ends of the Gen X spectrum — spanning age 45 to 60 — have starkly different financial realities.
As the oldest are eyeing retirement and tackling wealth transfers, the youngest are still juggling mortgages and student debt as they navigate their peak earning years. Understanding how these two age cohorts differ can have significant implications for advisors when working with Gen X clients.
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Breaking out the numbers isn’t simple. Most research lumps all Gen Xers together, so data on these subgroups is limited, and often doesn’t perfectly align with the youngest and oldest members of the generation. Still, survey data from the U.S. Census Bureau can provide some rough comparisons between younger and older Gen Xers and their “cusper” counterparts (those born on the cusp between major generations).
It’s no surprise that older Gen Xers tend to have greater retirement savings than younger members of the generation, typically about 57% more, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 Survey of Income and Program Participation. But comparing savings alone doesn’t capture the whole picture.
Effectively advising Gen X clients means understanding how the two subgenerations differ, advisors say.
“Thinking of that earlier generation within Gen X, specifically, there are a lot of different types of needs that they have based upon [how they’re] thinking through their wealth planning or their financial plan, that are different from those that are at the higher end of Gen X,” said Bobby Lovgren, head of wealth planning at RBC Wealth Management.
Some of those differences simply boil down to the different life stages each group is in.
Older Gen Xers are typically focused on accelerating retirement savings, planning for the next life stage and, in many cases, managing inherited wealth as their parents age. With children often out of college, they may have more cash flow available.
Younger Gen Xers, by contrast, are still in the thick of budgeting challenges — juggling debt management, raising kids and saving for college — and often share planning needs similar to millennials.
But advisors say the two groups also have fundamental differences between them, rooted in their early experiences of the job and stock market.
“The core difference isn’t just age; it’s the market environment they entered. Older Gen Xers started their careers during the sustained bull markets of the 1980s and ’90s,” said Marcos Segrera, wealth manager and principal at Evensky & Katz Wealth Management in Coral Gables, Florida. “They witnessed the power of compounding and equity growth firsthand, which often instilled a foundational market optimism. In contrast, younger Gen Xers came of age professionally during the dot-com bust, 9/11 and the 2008 great financial crisis.”
Those events didn’t just impact their careers and portfolios; they also altered their stomach for risk in future investing.
Many younger Gen Xers approach the stock market with a cautious, risk-averse outlook and a need for reassurance before investing in equities, according to Segrera. Older Gen Xers, who benefited from early market gains, are generally more comfortable with higher equity exposure, while younger Gen Xers prioritize capital preservation and want strategies that clearly account for future downturns.
Still, clients within these subgroups are far from a monolith.
Joe Boughan, a financial advisor and managing member at Boston-based Parkmount Financial Advisors, said that he has seen younger Gen Xers bring a more “risk-on” approach to investing.
“Many were just starting their careers and in more fragile positions when ’08 hit. On the flip side, they’ve benefited more from the recovery, since markets have more or less climbed steadily since that ‘lost decade,'” Boughan said. “This seems to have created more of a risk-on attitude. While they may remember job difficulties, the memory of their investment portfolios being hit is usually minimal, and they’ve mostly reaped the benefits of rising markets.”
A satisfaction gap with financial advisors
So what does all of that mean for financial advisors working with Gen X clients? For all the discussion of serving different generations of clients, research shows that advisors do a relatively poor job of addressing the needs of their Gen X clients.
According to FTSE Russell, just 57% of Gen X investors say they’re very satisfied with their advisor, compared to 69% and 72% among millennials and baby boomers, respectively. Gen X investors are also more likely to feel that their advisors don’t meet their individual needs compared to millennials and baby boomers, data shows.
“The 45-to-60 age range includes individuals at vastly different life stages, shaped by distinct historical, economic and technological experiences,” said Bennett Gordon, principal at MGR Wealth Management in Boca Raton, Florida. “Understanding these nuances is essential for providing meaningful, personalized advice.”
“Older Gen X clients tend to value direct, face-to-face communication. They appreciate clarity, privacy and a no-nonsense approach. Younger Gen Xers are more open to digital engagement, but they still want authenticity and control,” Gordon added. “Advisors should tailor their communication style accordingly — offering both traditional and tech-enabled options to meet clients where they are.”
On the whole, Gen Xers fall somewhere between millennials and baby boomers when it comes to communication preferences. According to a recent CapIntel survey, 57% of Gen Xers would prefer to communicate with their advisor through digital channels like email and video calls, compared to 69% of millennials and 43% of boomers.
But the trend isn’t always linear. Across the three generations, Gen Xers showed the lowest preference for in-person communication of any group. According to Lovgren, those preferences shape not only how advisors should communicate with clients, but also what they communicate — especially for younger Gen Xers.
Compared to their older counterparts, younger Gen Xers grew up with more exposure to technology, digital communication and online investing information. Relatively simple investment questions that were once the realm of financial advisors — “What’s a Roth IRA?” or “How should I invest my 401(k)?” — are now easily answered via readily available online resources, at least for the younger Gen X clients who are comfortable leaning on the internet for that information.
Because of that shift, Lovgren said it’s crucial that advisors take a comprehensive view of financial planning when working with both younger and older Gen X clients.
“It’s when you put all of the pieces of an entire financial plan together … that’s where the complexity arises, and that’s where, regardless of age, our client survey respondents say they look to a trusted financial advisor to be able to help them with that decision making,” Lovgren said.
Where generation-focused planning fits for advisors
Gen X clients on either end of the spectrum can differ significantly when it comes to their investments, financial attitudes and communication preferences. But do advisors need to know all of that to effectively do their job?
For many advisors, the answer is a definitive “yes.”
“Absolutely, you need to be versed in what different generations and even subgenerations are thinking, how they’re acting, how they’re behaving and what they want to hear,” Lovgren said. “Because you’re able to then go to market with a strategy that allows for that personalization to take effect.”
Still, advisors say that all of that knowledge is just a starting point with a client.
Albert Herzog, a financial advisor at EP Wealth Advisors in Brighton, Michigan, said that while generational differences can be useful in understanding broad differences, every client is going to be unique.
“That’s the beauty of our business,” Herzog said. “We’re able to look for situations and problems and give advice based on that, and give recommendations to make sure that we achieve their retirement goals and objectives.”
For Lovgren, understanding differences among older and younger Gen X clients is all about creating a launching pad for more personalized advising.
“If I know what the younger Gen X is thinking or feeling, I may be able to connect in a better way,” he said. “I may be able to focus on what their most important thing is initially, to be able to then engage in a conversation that allows for that personalization to take effect.”
