Summary

The article discusses the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Generation X during a significant life transition, emphasizing the importance of perspective and adaptability.

Abstract

The author, a Generation X member, reflects on the experience of navigating life's transitions, particularly in the context of personal finance and the American Dream. Despite the challenges of being a Gen X renter with uncertain prospects of homeownership and financial security, the author considers themselves fortunate. The article argues that life for Gen Xers isn't inherently hard, especially when compared to the struggles of younger and older generations with money. It suggests that the middle phase of life, where Gen X currently finds itself, can lead to a mid-life crisis but also presents a chance for renewed engagement and excitement. The author posits that not achieving traditional financial milestones can be an advantage, offering the wisdom and opportunity to make the second half of life meaningful and adventurous.

Opinions

The author believes that Gen Xers have a unique opportunity to reshape their lives during this transitional phase, viewing it as a time for positive change rather than a crisis.
There is a sentiment that societal definitions of success and mistakes should not dictate personal happiness or the assessment of one's life choices.
The article implies that the traditional American Dream, often represented by homeownership and high-paying jobs, may not lead to fulfillment and can contribute to a sense of disillusionment at mid-life.
The author emphasizes the value of experience and knowledge accumulated by Gen Xers, suggesting that this wisdom is a powerful tool for crafting a rewarding second act in life.
The piece encourages readers to embrace the uncertainty and challenges of their current situation as a source of motivation and opportunity for growth, rather than a source of regret.

One Reason Why It’s So Freaking ‘Hard’ To Be A Member Of Generation X

How I’m experiencing life during a pretty major transition phase

**Source: Author / Just another Gen Xer waiting for the Barbie movie to start**

I write a lot about Generation X, in part, because I’m a member of Generation X.

I live life. Then I write about my experience — past, present and anticipated future — with the hope it might help inform your journey in some way, shape or form.

By the end of this article — if I do my job — I will have illustrated part of the experience of being Gen X not only for myself, but for a large swath of the 42-to-58 year old population.

Truth be told — being a Gen X renter with practically zero hope of living the life I want to live, in America, as I approach relative old age isn’t all that bad. In fact, I consider myself lucky.

Because I am.

I stumbled upon the unplanned decision to start a writing career — 15 years ago — before it became the thing to do. Call it an unforced error that luckily turned into success, or survival gone too far.

Sure, I never bought a house and I’m far from rich, but it’s easy to look back in regret with the help of 20/20 vision. That’s a waste of valuable time. As is kicking, screaming and externalizing in the face of often unfair or unjust realities.

This is why I put quotation marks around hard in the title of this article. Relatively speaking, life isn’t all that hard for me and, I assume, a majority of people reading this article. You can make it emotionally and even practically hard. But it’s a heck of a lot more fun — and productive — to make it easy. If you’re able.

Hard within the personal financial context. Meaning we have roofs over our heads, food to eat, maybe a few bucks left over at the end of the month and, most important, the luxury to make changes — with a little planning — to our situations.

We don’t stop to realize often enough that some people who desperately require — or simply desire — change don’t have the resources (money, time, etc.) to make it happen.

Maybe without even knowing it, Ben Le Fort nicely summarizes this potentially uncomfortable Gen X sweet spot:

The young and old struggle with money for the opposite reasons.

The reason is that each group’s strengths don’t align with the financial tasks they need to deal with.

The young have more cognitive functions but lack experience and knowledge. The old have experience and knowledge, but we all experience cognitive decline as we age.

The problem;

The young have relatively simple financial tasks like budgeting. Their high cognitive functioning does not help them with these tasks; they need to learn by gaining experience — often through making mistakes.

The old have much more complex issues, such as estate planning — but their experience won’t help them with these complex problems, and their reduced cognitive capacity impacts their ability to handle these issues on their own.

Bold emphasis added.

As a 48-year old I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle.

Between finalizing my competence with the “simple financial tasks” and rolling the ball on “much more complex issues,” such as (ugh!) considering a will, but, before that, buying an apartment.

It’s this middle that can lead to the well-publicized and often sensationalized mid-life crisis.

So maybe it’s not that being Gen X is hard. Instead, it’s being in the middle.

When you think about it, being in the middle of many things is hard. For example, a family squabble or the street when the light suddenly turns green.

However, as it turns out, it’s all good.

Because I’m not only lucky to have a relatively easy life during an emotionally difficult period of transition. As it turns out, not being all set with a house and right-sized living expenses serves as an admittedly odd, though refreshing means to my most-feared end. My situation allows me to enter the second half of my life engaged — even invigorated — with cool shit to do and to get done.

Often times, it’s having the big house, three cars in the garage and executive-level six-figure job — the old American dream—that leads people to ask (right around mid-life):

Is this all there is?

That’s where mid-life crises spring from. Not to mention some aspects of ill physical and mental health.

So don’t define your experience by using society’s definition of a mistake. Not being all set financially — in the traditional sense of the word — in mid-life, in 2023, isn’t a mistake. It’s just what happened. It’s how life went down.

Don’t call them regrets. Chalk up what you’re feeling as informed ruminations.

Because what you’re feeling — confusion, uncertainty, guilt, shame, a sense of failure — as a Gen Xer in America is hard in one sense of the word. Absolutely. However, it screams opportunity in another, positive and far more productive sense of the word.

Positive and productive because, like Ben says, you have accumulated the experience and knowledge — that’s the definition of wisdom, by the way, because I looked it up—to make act two every bit as exciting, if not more, than act one.

And there’s nothing better than heading into act two with fresh challenges and new adventures on the horizon.

To receive a notification each time I publish a Medium article, go here. In future articles, we’ll go more in-depth on the things I touched on today.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.