Gen X investors: Why financial advice matters in a compressed financial window

Gen X is more likely to prioritize caring for family,¹ yet must also meet its own financial needs. As competing priorities, retirement timing, and planning complexity converge, advisors have a clear opportunity to deliver meaningful value.

For much of their lives, Generation X (Gen X)—born between 1965 and 1980—has flown under the radar. Independent, entrepreneurial, and resourceful, the original latchkey generation developed a strong sense of self-sufficiency. However, today their financial lives are more complex than ever. Many Gen X investors are balancing eldercare responsibilities, financial support for children, and their own retirement planning simultaneously.

These competing priorities create a unique financial puzzle that often requires strategic guidance. More than half of Gen Xers provide financial support to elders and children,² and the oldest Gen Xers are now becoming eligible for penalty-free retirement withdrawals.³ For advisors, this moment presents an opportunity to step in and provide practical direction. For many, these demands are no longer sequential—they are occurring at the same time, compressing financial decision-making into a shorter and more complex window.

The Gen X opportunity: Competing priorities and wealth in motion

Often described as the “forgotten generation,”⁴ Gen X includes roughly 65 million Americans⁵ and an estimated 1.4 billion people globally,⁶ many now entering their peak earning years. As a result, their wealth-building potential remains significant even as their financial responsibilities continue to expand.

At the same time, the coming decades will bring one of the largest wealth transitions in history. Between 2024 and 2048, an estimated $124 trillion in wealth is expected to transfer across generations.⁷ Gen X households are expected to inherit a substantial share of that wealth,⁸ creating a clear opportunity for advisors seeking to deepen relationships during a pivotal financial transition.

For many Gen X households, this transition is not a distant event—it is unfolding alongside peak earning years and increasing financial responsibilities. Yet, many advisory practices report limited interaction with clients’ children and heirs.⁹ Strengthening engagement with Gen X families today can help advisors build continuity across generations and help ensure their practice remains connected as both relationships and assets transition over time.

Understanding the motivations and challenges of this often-overlooked generation is the first step to building durable relationships. Advisors who engage Gen X clients proactively can position themselves as trusted partners during a critical stage of financial decision-making.

Gen X financial concerns, and how advisors can help

In 2026, Gen X finds itself at a pivotal financial stage. The youngest Gen Xers, now in their mid-40s, are balancing peak career demands with long-term retirement planning. The oldest Gen Xers, now around 60, are beginning to take more concrete steps toward retirement readiness.

Supporting aging parents while raising children further complicates their efforts to secure financial stability. Many Gen Xers also came of age financially during periods of market disruption, including the dot-com bubble and the Global Financial Crisis. These experiences shaped how they approached risk, savings, and long-term financial planning today.

Today, Gen X financial concerns continue to reflect this experience. While inflation has moderated from its recent peak, higher price levels continue to strain household purchasing power—and borrowing costs remain elevated compared with the previous decade, complicating credit decisions for higher-net-worth investors.¹⁰

In this environment, market volatility and economic uncertainty reinforce the importance of diversification and disciplined retirement planning over time. Together, these dynamics create a more compressed planning environment—where decisions around spending, saving, and investing must be made with greater precision and less margin for error.

Wealth preservation is a major concern

Gen X investors, like boomers, are less optimistic than millennials about their financial outlook, driven by concerns around inflation, economic uncertainty, and market volatility (Figure 1).

Together, these pressures underscore the importance of tailored planning and investment strategies that can help clients preserve purchasing power while continuing to build long-term wealth. This is simply not a sentiment issue—it reflects a growing need for strategies that balance near-term financial pressures with longer-term objectives.

How you can help: Address competing priorities.

Gen Xers are often stretched across multiple financial priorities. Advisors can help clients manage these competing demands while maintaining long-term financial discipline. The goal is not to oversimplify complexity, but to help clients make more deliberate tradeoffs across competing priorities.

Strategies may include:

• Investment strategies designed to help preserve purchasing power as inflation and market conditions evolve
• Dynamic portfolio construction that incorporates a broader opportunity set
• Customized retirement income frameworks designed to support longevity

Team-based advisory structures and expanded planning capabilities can further establish practices as comprehensive partners capable of addressing clients’ evolving needs.

Focus on retirement planning

In contrast to their parents, many Gen Xers began their careers during a period of shifting retirement systems. Traditional pension plans were disappearing while defined contribution plans such as 401(k)s were becoming the primary retirement vehicle, leaving individuals increasingly responsible for managing retirement planning on their own.

As a result, retirement preparedness remains one of the most defining financial concerns for this generation. In fact, nearly eight in ten Gen X investors cite having enough money to last through retirement as their primary financial goal.¹¹

Yet competing priorities add layers of complexity. Despite their focus on long-term financial security, fewer than half of Gen X investors have a comprehensive financial plan to support more confident retirement decisions.¹² This gap becomes more consequential at this stage—when retirement decisions carry greater impact and require a more integrated planning approach.

How you can help: Simplify retirement decisions.

For Gen X, retirement planning involves more than a financial transition. It requires navigating a complex shift in income, lifestyle, and long-term financial security.

Advisors can support clients by helping them:

• Evaluate income sustainability
• Stress-test portfolios under different market scenarios
• Implement tax-efficient withdrawal strategies

This includes helping clients connect individual decisions to an integrated retirement strategy, rather than addressing them in isolation. By combining analytical tools with a collaborative planning process, advisors can help clients turn uncertainty into structured retirement strategies that support more confident financial decisions.

Convey the value of guidance to self-directed Gen Xers

A meaningful share of Gen X investors continue to manage at least some of their assets independently. A preference for autonomy is a defining trait among self-directed Gen X investors, who tend to make financial decisions independently rather than rely on comprehensive financial planning.¹³ At the same time, managing portfolios without personalized guidance can present challenges—particularly as market conditions evolve and retirement decisions become more consequential.

This dynamic creates a clear inflection point—where the limits of self-direction become more visible and the value of advice becomes more tangible. By demonstrating how advice can help navigate volatility, strengthen diversification, and align portfolios with long-term goals, advisors can help convert skepticism into greater confidence.

How you can help: Expand the planning conversation.

Many Gen X investors seek guidance on financial decisions that extend beyond portfolio construction.

These priorities often include:

• Healthcare costs and long-term planning
• Caregiving responsibilities for aging parents
• Legacy planning and wealth transfer

A broader planning approach—supported by financial modeling tools and integrated advice capabilities—can help advisors address these needs while delivering support that digital platforms alone cannot replicate. Expanding the conversation beyond investments allows advisors to play a more meaningful role in areas where clients are actively seeking guidance.

Meet Gen X investors where they are

For many advisory practices, Gen X represents a timely growth opportunity—not only because these investors are in their peak earning years, but because they are navigating increasingly multifaceted financial decisions at a pivotal life stage.

By aligning services with the realities this generation faces today, advisors can build durable relationships that extend beyond immediate planning needs and remain relevant through key life and wealth transitions.

For advisors willing to engage Gen X proactively, the opportunity is not simply to solve for today’s concerns, but to help clients make more confident decisions across an increasingly compressed financial life—earning trust that can deepen over time and endure as assets, responsibilities, and priorities evolve.

Explore our practice management insights for more ideas on how to propel your practice forward.