1. PF SMS iconsPF SMS icons
1
https://learn.extension.org/events/3108
This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.
Financial Planning for Different
Generations: Touchstones,
Tasks, and Teaching Strategies
Source:
Clipart
Panda
2. Webinar Objectives
• Increase knowledge about characteristics of
generations
• Increase knowledge about generational personal
finance practices
• Increase knowledge about generational personal
finance action steps
• Increase knowledge about generational financial
education resources
2
4. Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation
4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sU5KBUGvM3U
5. The Influence of Early
Environments
“What imprints on younger people impacts
them for the rest of their lives”
Cam Marston, Generational Insights
https://generationalinsights.com/about/
5
8. Life Cycle Tasks That All
Generations Pass Through
8
Source: Take
Charge Today,
formerly known
as Family
Economics and
Financial
Education
(FEFE)
9. The Financial Life Cycle
9
Source: Take
Charge Today,
formerly
known as
Family
Economics
and Financial
Education
(FEFE)
10. Generations Defined
10
Source: Dr. Ethel G. Jones,
Louisiana Tech University,
School of Human Ecology
Source: Wall Street Journal:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/analysis-of-
the-generations-isnt-an-exact-science-
1468575000
14. Spending Behavior
Source: Dr. Ethel G. Jones, Louisiana Tech
University, School of Human Ecology
Source: Bank of America/Merrill Lynch
Take-aways: Millennials spend the most
on eating out, Gen X spends the most on
housing, Baby Boomers spend the most
on furniture/building, and Traditionalists
spend the most on groceries.
15. Millennial Spending vs. Others
15
Source: Bankrate
Spending Index, July
2017:
http://www.prnewswire.c
om/news-
releases/millennial-
spending-habits-differ-
from-older-generations-
300491437.html
16. Payment Behavior
Source: Next Gen
Personal Finance:
https://docs.google
.com/presentation/
d/1e6qcFBx6K-
UNpXmzllpGalXKg
U4t4XoNspucTFe
UJ24/edit#slide=id.
g18210699ce_1_6
17. Comfortably Cashless
Source: Next Gen Personal
Finance:
https://docs.google.com/prese
ntation/d/1-
2R_jszVMwlVW2mUvrnPM-
EFo6GqhIpRIK9z1LfuinE/edit
#slide=id.g1821408edd_0_0
18. Credit Cards By Age
Source: Next Gen
Personal Finance:
https://docs.google.co
m/document/d/170zn
pcLfVahk3H7O4Gqb
S1u124ABMvuxsvc4
DD3X0kM/edit
19. Credit Card Debt by Age
Source: Next Gen Personal Finance:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LcYwZIXZf1AC0i7v3I6sJEumCt9xZBsAXu8OS
AYbx7Y/edit
20. Credit Scores By Age
Source: Credit Karma: https://www.creditkarma.com/trends/age
21. Auto Insurance Premiums By Age
Source: Value Penguin via Next Gen Personal Finance:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sgTUFbCvNyUbEyAiIiUNsXIAxX9PD
4OSoACjt0xzczE/edit
22. Health Insurance Premiums By Age
Source: Value Penguin via Next Gen Personal Finance:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/13kyHDBg91oCZUzmWip7PRCi9CUm
FDmg89d1kXHBkuLM/edit
24. Income Tax Filing By Generation
Source: GO Banking Rates: https://www.gobankingrates.com/personal-
finance/43-percent-americans-file-taxes-comfort-home-survey-finds/
26. Saving and Investing Behavior
Source: T.
Rowe Price
Report, Issue
135, Spring
2017, p. 14-15;
https://individual.t
roweprice.com/st
aticFiles/Retail/S
hared/PDFs/price
report_spring.pdf
?van=pricereport-
spring
32. Young Adults Living With Parents
Source: Pew
Research Center:
http://www.pewsocialtr
ends.org/2016/05/24/f
or-first-time-in-
modern-era-living-
with-parents-edges-
out-other-living-
arrangements-for-18-
to-34-year-olds/
35. Generational Overview
Source: Hagen Jokela, Hendrickson, & Haynes (2013). Teaching Financial Literacy Across the
Generations. Journal of Extension, 51(1); https://www.joe.org/joe/2013february/tt6.php
36. General Financial Action Steps
36
Source: David
Lerner Associates’
Guide to Smart
Retirement
Strategies, David
Lerner Associates,
Inc., Syosset, NY
37. Blog Post About Generations
37
Source:
https://moneytalk1.blogspot.com/2017/07/
personal-finance-tasks-by-decade.html
38. Millennials (Gen Y):
Age 17-35 in 2017 (b. 1982-2000)
• Train for a career and establish a household
• Learn to budget and “pay yourself first”
• Organize a repayment plan for student loans
• Build an adequate emergency fund
• Fund a Roth IRA account for retirement savings
• Start 529 plans or other savings plans for children
• Build a positive credit history
• Minimize taxes (e.g., tax credits)
39. Millennials (Gen Y)
• Explore financial institutions (bank, credit union, etc.)
• Increase investing expertise
• Invest for the long-term in stocks/stock mutual funds
• Buy life insurance to protect dependents and/or
private student loan co-signers
• Teach children about personal finance
• Balance YOLO/FOMO mindsets with financial security
• Avoid “hoarding cash” to avoid investing
• Develop a personal financial identity
40. Generation X:
Age 36-52 in 2017 (b. 1965-1981)
• Don’t forget about old retirement savings plans
• STILL invest for the long-term in stocks/stock funds
• Diversify investments and rebalance portfolio
• Enhance employment skills (build human capital)
• Try to “max out” retirement savings plan deposits
• Talk to aging parents about their finances
• Consider hiring a financial adviser
41. Generation X
• At age 50, save more for retirement with catch-up
provisions for IRAs and employer savings plans
• Manage increased need for credit and insurance
• Understand that retirement savings generally
trumps college savings
• Don’t neglect health in pursuit of wealth
• Prepare a will if one wasn’t already created
42. Baby Boomers
Age 53-71 in 2017 (b. 1946-1964)
• Decide when to take Social Security benefits
• Determine a retirement income strategy (e.g., 4% Rule)
• Learn about Social Security, Medicare, and pension
• Investigate later life housing and living costs
• Learn about required minimum distributions (RMDs)
• Try to pay off all debt (including a home mortgage)
before retirement
• Start taking advantage of “senior discounts”
43. Baby Boomers
• Consider long-term care insurance or earmark a
portion of savings to “self-insure”
• Invest in college savings plans for grandchildren
• Consolidate accounts for simplification
• Consider taking classes and/or building networks
for a “second act” (e.g., freelance work)
• Review estate plan and adjust as needed
• Care for aging parents or other dependents
• Make the most of remaining paychecks to save for
retirement
44. Mature/Silent/Traditionalists
Age 72-90 in 2017 (b. 1927-1945)
• Get more strategic about philanthropy (e.g., large
gifts, charitable trusts, donor advised funds, etc.)
• Talk to children/heirs about finances and estate plan
• Streamline/consolidate financial accounts
• Gift heirlooms while alive to see recipient enjoy them
• Downsize and/or donate “stuff”
• Hire help as needed (e.g., yard work, cleaning)
45. Mature/Silent/Traditionalists
• Make it easy to manage money and pay bills (e.g.,
direct deposits and automatic withdrawals)
• Make sure family members know where to find
personal and financial documents
• Adjust lifestyle to a declining real income, if needed
• Take RMDs from retirement savings plans
• Regularly review beneficiary designation on life
insurance and retirement savings plans
46. Don’t Forget Generation Z!
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch
?v=K1HyDn7dZ1o
Born 1994-2010 (approx.); next cohort of future employees
Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=I7N1JJo6eFg
47. Gen Z Take-Aways
• Make up 25 percent of U.S. population
• 62% anticipate challenges: work with Boomers/Gen X
• Realistic thanks to skeptical Gen X parents, recession
• Competitive with “do it yourself” mentality
• 74% prefer to communicate face-to-face
• 75% say there are other ways to get a good education
than going to college
https://www.inc.com/ryan-jenkins/generation-z-vs-
millennials-the-8-differences-you-.html
48. The Military Lifecycle
48
Source: Consumer
Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) Office
of Servicemember
Affairs:
https://s3.amazonaws
.com/files.consumerfi
nance.gov/f/documen
ts/201705_cfpb_OSA
_Military-Lifecycle-
Report.pdf
51. Journal of Financial Planning
Blog Post
Source:
https://practicemanageme
ntblog.onefpa.org/2017/0
6/27/be-a-gen-savvy-
planner-take-off-your-
generational-lenses/
52. A Classic: Journal of Family and
Consumer Sciences Article
Source:
O'Neill, B. and Brennan,
P. (1997). Financial
Planning Education Through
the Life Cycle. Journal of
Family and Consumer
Sciences, 89(2), 32-36.
54. Life Cycle of Financial Planning
Source: Family
Economics and
Financial
Education:
http://www.ktufsd.org/
cms/lib/NY19000262/
Centricity/Domain/94/
Life_Cycle_of_Financi
al_Planning_PPT.pdf
and
http://mainstreetwealt
hgroup.com/wp/wp-
content/uploads/2011/
12/Life_Events_of_Fin
ancial_Planning.pdf
55. Financial Tips For Generations
Source: http://www.360financialliteracy.org/Topics/Budgeting-Spending/Budgeting-
Saving/Real-life-Financial-Tips-for-Different-Generations
59. What is one significant
thing
that you learned today?
59
60. Key Take-Away for Practitioners:
Don’t Impose YOUR “Social Clock”
on Other People!
Social Clock- “a cultural timeline of expectations
of what people should do at a certain age”
(William Doherty, U of Minnesota)
– Late 20s/30s: “So when are you two going to
have a baby?”
– Late 50s/60s: “So when are you going to retire?”
– Late 60s/70s+: “Are you still working? Why?”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/its-ok-to-party-when-
you-turn-60-1500914273 60
61. 61This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Office of Family
Readiness Policy, U.S. Department of Defense under Award Numbers 2014-48770-22587 and 2015-48770-24368.