5 Things You Can Learn From Previous Generations’ Money Mistakes
5 Things You Can Learn From Previous Generations’ Money Mistakes
by Mike Brassfield Senior Writer November 22, 2021
Let’s make it clear right off the bat: Your generation is the best generation, OK? And no matter which generation you happen to belong to, there’s plenty you can learn from the financial mistakes of previous generations, who all behaved in financially unwise ways.
If you’re Gen Z, you can avoid the house-hunting regrets of millennials. If you’re a millennial, you can learn from the credit card disasters of Gen X. If you’re Gen X, there’s still time to avoid repeating the retirement mistakes of the baby boomers. And if you’re a boomer, hey, you already know everything, right?
Kidding, y’all! We’re just kidding! (Full disclosure: The writer of this piece is Gen X, so he doesn’t really matter.)
What can we learn from previous generations’ financial mistakes?
1. Gen Z? Avoid Millennials’ Regrets
If you’re Gen Z, you can avoid the house-hunting regrets of millennials.
A survey of homebuyers in 2017 found that 57% of millennial homeowners surveyed would have done something differently if they got a do-over on the home buying process. More than a quarter — 28% — wished they’d saved more before making the purchase.
It’s easy to automatically sock away some savings with an app like Aspiration. With a digital Aspiration account — a hybrid of checking and savings — you can earn up to 20 times the average interest on your savings balance. (The FDIC reports that the average account earns just .05%.) You also get a debit card that earns you up to 5% cash back on purchases.
You can automatically sock away some savings every payday. It takes five minutes to sign up.
2. Millennial? Avoid Gen X’s Credit Card Hell
So, we’re obviously not going to talk about millennials like, you irresponsible kids and your avocado toast. The fact is, elder millennials are pushing 40 these days. Millennials are middle management now.
So it’s not too late to avoid being sucked into the credit card hell that mauled Generation X so badly. And I say that as a member of Generation X.
To continue reading, please go to the original article here:
https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/bank-accounts/generation-money-mistakes/?aff_sub2=homepage