18 Millennials Shared Their Debt Struggles So Gen-Z Can Learn From Them (2024)

FAQs

Why are millennials and Gen Z struggling? ›

In addition to soaring food and housing expenses, millennials and Gen Z face other financial challenges their parents did not as young adults. Not only are their wages lower than their parents' earnings when they were in their 20s and 30s, but they are also carrying larger student loan balances.

Key Takeaways

Lack of Basic Financial Knowledge: A survey conducted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) found that merely 24% of Gen Z respondents could correctly answer four out of five basic financial literacy questions.

According to data on 78.2 million Credit Karma members, members of Generation X (ages 43 to 58) carry the highest average total debt — $61,036.

“When you think about money holistically and the emotional side of money … that's what ultimately feels like the lack of hope and confidence,” Noah Kerner, CEO of Acorns, told USA TODAY. The company also found that 33% of millennials and 28% of Gen Z are unable to enjoy their lives because they obsess over money.

Many factors are at play, including income, debt, dwindling savings, and poor financial choices. Close to 75% of millennial women and 70% of all those surveyed say they struggle to make ends meet with their current salary. The average income for millennials surveyed is $74,106, roughly $35 an hour.

Does Gen Z struggle more with mental health than millennials? New polling shows signs of a shift. Compared with older generations today, members of Gen Z are much more likely to report experiencing negative emotions such as stress, anxiety and loneliness, according to a new study.

Younger people are actually better with money than Boomers and Generation X. Millennials are better with money , a national survey says. Charles Schwab tracked how 1,000 Americans, aged 21-to-75, manage and use their wealth.

Millennials stand to become the richest generation in history, after $90 trillion wealth transfer | CNN Business.

To put this into perspective, 46% of baby boomers prefer investing in stocks. While it may be surprising that Gen Z has the lowest financial literacy levels — and these levels are even lower among Gen Zers who don't attend college — financial experts say there are several reasons as to how this came to be.

King said millennials' purchasing preferences and the soaring cost of living has led many into "a vicious cycle of taking on more debt." Many were "forced" to rely on credit cards and loans to meet their needs, adding to their "crippling debt pile."

What generation will inherit the most money? ›

By Knight Frank's estimation, this shift will make affluent millennials “the richest generation in history.” Previous reports show this figure at a lower $84 trillion, but nonetheless confirm a shake-up in the foundations of spending power across the globe.

Millennial Debt

The average mortgage balance for Millennials (ages 27 to 42) is the highest among all age groups.

Gen-Z Faces Financial Challenges, Stress, Anxiety And An Uncertain Future.

46% of Gen Z spent more on fashion than anything else in 2022 (5WPR) Gen Z was the only generation to have clothing and fashion as their top spending category. 30% of Gen Z spent more on beauty and personal care than anything else, far more than any other generation.

Gen Z has been on a mental health downfall compared to other generations, due to the experiences within social media and comparison culture within their lives, Hofmann said. UCF junior psychology major Melani Muniz discussed how societal pressures and social media has impacted her mental health.

Millennials were born between 1981 and 1996 while members of the Gen Z years Gen Z years were born between 1997 and 2012. Millennials expect faster customer service. Gen Z tends to be better at accepting delayed gratification than millennials. Millennial customer service expectations are higher than Gen Z customers.

She says Gen Z faces more challenges in some ways than previous generations. “There's a growth in inequality in the transition to adulthood. There's a lot of changes in culture and norms, insecurity more generally, in terms of climate change and the war and school shootings and rapid inflation.

Although the stress of experiencing a continuing polycrisis affects people of all demographics, recent research from GlobeScan shows that Gen Z respondents across 31 countries and territories are more than twice as likely to say they frequently experience stress and anxiety than are Baby Boomers and older.