Money Advice For Generation X

This often-overlooked demographic got a late start on saving and endured the Great Recession, but most are on the road to recovery.

GENERATION X HAS BEEN called America’s neglected middle child. For starters, this demographic group, sandwiched between the baby boomers and the millennials, was born in a relatively short 15year span—between 1965 and 1980. And there are fewer of them—66 million in the U.S., compared with 74 million baby boomers and 71 million millennials. Plus, they’re the victims of rotten timing. Just as they were approaching their prime, enjoying homeownership and revving up retirement savings, the housing bubble burst, igniting the financial crisis and the Great Recession. That decimated their portfolios and slashed the value of their homes.

On the plus side, their home values and savings have mostly recovered since the financial downturn, and they are entering their peak earning years. “They still have time to change their long-term outcomes, but they can’t afford to procrastinate,” says Catherine Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies.

That’s easier said than done. Many are also supporting children at the same time their aging parents are beginning to need help, and that makes it even more difficult to save. Sarita Gupta’s daughter was 2 years old when her father, a retired physician, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s six years ago. Gupta’s mom was his primary caregiver, but after almost two years it became overwhelming for her to care for him alone. Gupta, 44, and her two siblings talked with their parents about ways they could help, and her parents ended up selling her childhood home in Rochester, N.Y., and moving in with Gupta, her husband, Eddie, and their daughter in their townhouse in Silver Spring, Md. “It was a surprise financially, emotionally and physically,” she says.