Matures grew up learning that “a penny saved is a penny earned” and that you needed to “put something away for a rainy day. Even in their old age, they remain conservative spenders opting to do without rather than spending impulsively.
Many Baby Boomers have been the antithesis of this approach. Over the years many Boomers have racked enough consumer debt to seriously endanger their ability to retire in a timely fashion. Baby Boomers were the first credit card generation. Unfortunately, many have not learned the devastating power behind the time-value-of-money, leaving them with debts they will be forced to pay down in their later years. This, of course, has made many rethink their goals about working.
Generation X, having come of age in the chaos of the sixties and seventies coupled with watching their parents spend extravagantly have chosen the more conservative paths of saving and spending prudently. The Millennials, on the other hand, are displaying spending habits remarkably similar to the Baby Boomers. Having come of age in the era of clicks rather than cash. While many of them have learned to spend substantial amounts of money at an earlier age than previous generations, their attitudes about spending in general are viewed as troubling by many.