Do you even know what generation you belong to? More importantly, do you care?

Generations are extended periods of time that are connected with pop culture. Probably the most well known and talked about is the “baby boomer” generation; you know, the aging hippies born between 1943-1964 (or so). Their kids? Generation X (1965-1979) and Generation Y (1978-1993). Generation X grew up on MTV and video games, generation Y has the distinction of being the biggest cellphone users to date. Generation Z, or I (1994-2007) is the “internet” generation, they live in a world of digital technology and gadgets….

But wait, what about debt? In my seemingly endless hours of internet surfing (no, I’m not from generation I, as much as I might like to be;) I ran across some recent statistics from a survey sponsored by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. The survey, entitled “Preparing For Their Future: A look at the Financial State of Gen X and Gen Y” sounded interesting enough for a click. They interviewed over 1750 individuals ages 19-39 regarding their sources and level of debt. Here is a summary of the findings:

• Credit Cards: 63%
• Auto Loan: 48%
• Mortgage: 35%
• Student Loan: 31%
• Medical: 27%
• Other: 22%
• HELOC: 11%

And here are the results of the amount of (non-mortgage) debt they reported:

• Less than $1000: 12%
• $1000 - $2499: 7%
• $2500 - $4999: 11%
• $5000 - $9999: 18%
• $10000 - $14,999: 13%
• $15000 - $19,999: 8%
• $20,000 - $29,999: 11%
• $30,000 - 99,000: 16%
• over $100,000: 3%

Interesting numbers; I wonder how it compares with the baby boomer’s stats?? After all, that is where these generations “learned” their financial habits…. can anybody else shed some light on the differences, if any? (or am I off to surf some more…)

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