I’m a longtime follower and fan of Adam Mockler, who I think is an amazing, intelligent, and dynamic person who gives me so much hope. I’m also a proud Gen-Xer who has noticed that, recently, much of the content has focused on rants about how “older people” (Boomers and Gen X) are leaving Gen Z with massive debt and catastrophic financial problems. I agree that what Donald Trump and the current administration are doing is horrific for Gen Z—but please understand that it’s devastating for the rest of us as well.
Some (not all) “highlights” of Gen X (born 1965–1980):
We constantly hear that Social Security—money deducted from every paycheck we’ve earned over decades—has been mismanaged and will not be there when we soon need it. In my case, that’s only a few years away.
-We were 28–43 years old during the 2008 financial crisis, meaning we were in the core of adulthood: old enough to be hit hard but young enough that we didn’t yet have the savings many Boomers had. Many of us were also raising young children, making the financial impact even greater than for older people with grown kids or younger people without them.
-Gen X has arguably faced the greatest combined financial, mental, and emotional strain as the “sandwich generation,” often caring for both aging parents and children while dealing with the long-term fallout of the dot-com crash, the Great Recession, and COVID-19 during peak earning years. About 22% of Gen X reports daily stress—higher than Millennials (17%), Gen Z (14%), or Boomers (8%). Adding to this, older generations rarely discussed finances, leaving 43% of Gen X feeling unprepared to manage money.
-We too are faced with exorbitant costs for food, utilities, housing, everything we purchase, transportation, along with healthcare, and medications. Because so many of us are also caring for our parents too, we are trying to help them even as any benefits they and we had/ have are vanishing before our eyes.
-The AIDs epidemic. We all knew and loved someone who was killed by it. It also completely erased an entire generation of artists.
-Operation Desert Storm/The Gulf War, where we fought and/or knew someone who was killed by wars that were based on political lies and shouldn’t have ever happened.
-9/11
-The Recession of 2008.
-COVID, when people we loved and cared about died. Like my dad.
We’ve lived through the bad consequences of policies under George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, and now—along with you—Donald Trump.
I’ve always believed that Adam Mockler was speaking to a broad audience, not just Gen Z. Aaron Parnas, Harry Sisson, and MeidasTouch are also excellent and don’t seem exclusive or ageist. Perhaps, I, and others my age aren’t welcome with Adam Mockler after all. But, I do know that there is already too much division in our country and world without him or anyone else adding to it.
