Quick question: Which generation would you think is doing the best at saving for the future?
Baby Boomers? They’re the closest to retirement, and therefore the benefits of saving should be most immediate to them.
Generation X? They’re in their peak earning years, and should have the most resources from which to feed the piggy bank.
Either would seem to make sense, and either would be wrong.
According to a new Discover survey shared on Nasdaq.com and elsewhere, it’s millennials who are doing the best job at saving. In a nation study of over 2,200 people, 81 percent of millennial respondents are saving in some capacity, compared to 77 percent of Baby Boomers and 74 percent of Gen-Xers.
Sure, it may be easier to save while you’re living at home. But the fact that the workplace generation furthest from retirement is saving at a greater rate than the others should also be a wake-up call to Gen-X and Baby Boomers: Don’t slack off now.
Some Baby Boomers are already retiring, of course, and others may be content enough with their portfolios to coast through their final working years. Many Gen-Xers are sending their kids off to college, which would eat up a sizeable portion of funds that might ordinarily be set aside for savings.