Baby boomers, Gen X & Millennials: They all have their money problems

From Yahoo Finance

Baby boomers, Gen X & Millennials: They all have their money problems

Credit.com |  By Christine DiGangi

A new report confirms what we all fear to be true: Americans, no matter their age, are generally terrible at managing their money. In short, we all need to save more. A lot more.

This insight comes from Financial Finesse, a think tank geared toward helping people reach financial independence and security, in its 2015 generational research study released today. Financial Finesse's assessment of each generation's financial health is based on employee responses to its financial wellness questionnaires, which is used at more than 600 companies in the country.

In this study, generations are broken into Millennials (employees younger than 30), Generation X (30 to 54) and Baby Boomers (55 and older). Based on what people reported about their financial situations, no group gets bragging rights or much room to criticize their older or younger counterparts. As for how they scored, it's pretty even: On a scale of 0-10 millennials got a 4.6 for financial wellness, Gen X a 4.7 and boomers a 5.7.

Millennials

The youngest segment of the workforce seems to do pretty well with the in-the-moment financial decisions. Essentially, these consumers were scarred by the debt problems they saw in the recession, and they're more likely to spend within their means, have plans to pay off debt, pay their credit card balances in full and avoid bank fees than Gen Xers.

Despite being in the best position to prepare for retirement (the earlier you save, the easier it is to reach your goals), millennials listed it as their third most important priority, after paying off debt and managing cash flow. The other generations had retirement planning at the top.

The debt issue is really what sets millennials apart. More of their income goes toward student loan payments than it did for other generations when they were younger, and those payments may be cutting into savings potential. The lifetime cost of debt calculator shows how even low-interest debt can impact your savings.

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