Are you a Millennial, Gen X or Baby Boomer?

Everyone's financial priorities change over time. An average person starts with building small savings then accumulating wealth to then spend during twilight years.

Source: Stockspot

Millennials (Ages 18 - 35)

Millennials are Australia's largest and highest-spending demographic population, characterised as 'digitally addicted' and 'armed with a smartphone'. According to the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center (GFLEC), based on data from the 2012 National Financial Capability Study, only 24% of Millennials demonstrated basic financial literacy and only 8% demonstrated high financial literacy. The bad news for these young Australians is that they haven't yet translated their education and tech abilities into higher earnings or home ownership. However, improvements can be expected as almost three quarters of millennials investing in online investment platforms are focused on growing wealth for the future, investing the largest percentage of their available assets in mainly growth to aggressive portfolios. On a positive note, an investors study done by ASX in 2017 showed that the proportion of 18- 24 year olds engaged with investment has increased from 10% to 20% in the past 5 years.

Gen X (Ages 36 - 55)

For those folks in generation X, they tend to be plotted in the stage of active wealth accumulation as a result of their rising work experiences and increasing incomes. Though let's not forget their strenuous financial commitments and significant expenses which is no surprise seeing the average house price in Sydney skyrockets to $920,000 AUD and the the cost of raising a child over $400,000 AUD. Majority of Gen X are at the stage of growing wealth in preparation for retirement and of course, keeping up with funding children and family's basic living costs.

Baby Boomers (55 - 65)

Last but certainly not least, baby boomers in Australia have financially benefited and stabilised from decades of upswing economic growth and a 6,556 percentage surge in house prices since the 1960s. Tossing the old and the young, investing outside home means a balanced portfolio is the most popular choice for 37% of baby boomers. Before you start thinking that young investors are the only brave investors, think again! Baby boomers are actually more comfortable with market volatility than younger people due to their experience investing over time.