Welcome to another edition of Checks on the Right podcast. We are here with our BFF, our financial BFF and BFF Zach from Bulwark Capital. We're talking about gen X being the forgotten generation in every single way. So there's a new article from the Economist and they suggest that gen X those born between nineteen sixty five and nineteen eighty. I am one of those, and I feel like you're
considered one of those. You're eighty two, right. They say that we might be the most overlooked and most stressed generation. So boomers complain. I feel like, I'm not really not that stressed, but boomers complain about retirement, Millennials complain about
housing and costs of stuff. Gen Z complain about everything right, and then gen X is kind of in the background, and we're struggling because apparently during our midlife when we were supposed to be having our midlife crisis, and I can attest to this, this is when the bad stock markets hit, there was weak job growth. It was harder and harder for us to build wealth. We're stuck in that sandwich generation where we're caring for both kids and aging parents and is social security going to run out?
So let's talk about some stereotypes of the different generations, like money myths about each, whether gen X is unfairly ignored in some of these finance discussions. But first of all, I want to know, like just having your practice for as long as you have, when it comes to the different generations, do you see different saving methodologies with different generations? Do you see a difference in the generation? Yeah?
Huge, really yeah, it's and it's and it's and it's really it's really interesting to me because it does not follow the typical arc that I think people would guess at. So, for instance, you know, and you talk about our certain generations, is gen X getting ignored? I hadn't really thought about in those terms, But when you put it like that, like to think to myself, it probably.
Is like jan from the Brady Bunch.
Yeah, Marsha Marshall, Martia the middle child, right yeah, right yeah. So, And here's why I say it. Everybody talks about Gen Z and millennials being despondent, not having hope in the future, having more of a cynical outlook, which typically right, cynicism, skepticism, all of those things are typically hallmarks of older folks, Right, you would usually think that there now, and there's all kinds of reasons that would back that up. We could point to that and be like, you know, home prices,
all the things that we realize. What is interesting to me, though, is that Gen X by and large seems to be much more skeptical than the Baby boomers. Yeah, there is much more of a jaundiced eye around Generation X.
Ok.
And I think a lot of it has to do with what you just said, meaning there were so many Baby Boomers that OAIGHTO nine was not fun for and was not pleasant for, but a lot of them, and think about in your own personal lives, A lot of them were established enough to where their life didn't fundamentally change. Right when you look at Gen xers, I don't think it.
I don't think it's hard to argue that we were by far the most impacted by O EITO nine totally Yeah, right, because you're earlier in your career, which by definition, you know, you look at corporate America, you know tenure equal security, meaning if you want to know who's going to get thrown overboard first, it's the people with the least amount of seniors. Totally right, You're also least likely to get hired.
How do I know that? Try being a twenty six, twenty seven year old in the middle of the financial crisis, just starting out in the financial industry and calling people when the SMP is down sixty percent over the previous eight months, and asking them to trust you with their money. And then they ask you how long you've been in business and you say six months? Right, as you can imagine, that was kind of a tough sell, little bit, right,
just a little bit, a little bit. And so once again you kind of look at this dynamic where gen X had virtually nothing to do with what ca I mean, if you look at the housing crisis, that was truly a baby boomer generation moment, meaning the legislation that enabled that was in the late nineties passed by baby boomers.
Right, you never hear you all. I mean, you will not hear the end of it from gen Z s too, because they will constantly blame boomers for all of that, and they'll be like, we can't afford housing because of the boomers. Sometimes they lump us in with it too. Gen xers are to blame for that too, like they have it so easy, we have it so hard. But
do you really think that. I mean, granted, yes, I will put some blame on them, But at the same time, I do think that our generation and the generation before us, you know, we didn't have we didn't live in laps of luxury and expect a lot of things that I think this new generation does. So there's it's it's more than just one aspect that we're dealing with, you know what I mean, It's an onion. I feel like it's
not just one thing. Like a lot of these kids are used to so many wonderful things, and they're not willing to give up the wonderful things. They're not willing to live with five roommates and have ram and noodles every night. You see what I'm saying.
Yeah, well, yes, there is no question about that, you know. And I even deal to be fair, I deal with that issue with my own kids, and my wife and I talk about all the time. One of our biggest concerns is are there enough struggles? Are there enough obstacles?
Right?
Because I grew up with an I grew up in an idyllic setting as a kid. At the same time, there were so many things that we were responsible for. Yeah, the kids today just aren't, you know. And what I mean by that is, let me give you a really small example. You want to play with your friend, so you got to go outside, jump on your bike, ride down the street, and go knock on his door and see if he's there. Totally just even something like that.
Totally yes.
And the reason you have to do that is because you tried calling him, but the phone's busy. Right somewhere, millennials are going homes.
What are you was talking about? Yeah? I mean I always telling my daughter we were raised on hose water and neglect. Okay, we totally loved it. We were so autonomous. Our parents had no idea where we were until we had to come in for dinner. And we were just hungry and dirty, you know, ye, hungry, dirty.
To live and slept like babies, right right, yeah, And it was that and that was a shared experience, right. And you look at it today and you don't see kids outside no, right, Like it's it really is it really want.
My kids outside because it's not a safe you know. So there again, it's like a double edged sword, right.
It really is. And then on the then, like I said, then you get to the younger generation too, and you don't ever want to tell somebody not to aim so high. But it's not because it's materialistic. But I want to look at him and go listen, guys, let me just let me just tell you something right now. I'm not
telling you to lower your sights. But if you think that getting a job and quote unquote being successful involves high six or low seven figures income incomes and Lamborghinis like you've been lied to, I'm not saying it's impossible. But what I'm saying is that is a very bizarre outcome. Okay, the vast majority of people that you think are having that outcome, it is a total ruse and is a
total fake. And you can just look at the stats, right if if you know in the state of Washington, which is higher up the deal, you know, I think I think the cutoff line for top one percent is five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Okay, Well, five hundred and thirty one thousand dollars doesn't pay for two hundred and fifty to three hundred and fifty thousand dollars cars and four million dollar houses, right, It just not even that.
And five hundred and thirty thousand dollars is an unbelievable amount of money to make for year.
Right, Absolutely agreed.
But these kids have just these incredibly unrealistic expectations they do.
It's very inflated.
Yeah, and I think that that is as big a danger, if not a bigger danger than reality on the ground.
Yeah.
Right. And what I mean by that is if you don't have expectations in terms of and when I say expectations, I had really high expectations of myself, but they were based around what I believed I was capable of and more importantly, what I was prepared to do for it, right, Meaning I had high expectations of myself because I was going into my job thinking, no one will outwork me. Now did people outwork I'm sure there are people that outworked me, but it was kind of that athlete mentality, right,
I'm going to go after this hard. It was not, Oh, I'm entitled to that, that's just part of the game. I'm going to get that because I'm great, and that's what I'm gonnachieve.
I got a four year degree, so I get a corner office in a BMW's.
That works.
That's not how it works.
No, it it just doesn't. It just doesn't work that way. And the thing that you want to get across to them is you want to say, hey, I didn't say it was impossible, but it will be achieved by doing nothing that you think will achieve it, Meaning you need to become blind to everything else. You need to work like a dog. You need to you know, like, if you think it's going to get done five days a week for forty hours a week, you're lying to yourself, right, actually,
you know. And you try to tell people like, hey, guys, light you can't cheat life, Hey, you can't cheat life. When you get eight billion people on the planet, there will be some people that just fall out of bed into a great thing and they take us all off. Okay, but that is not a replicatable journey, right, you can't do it that way. So and I teach my little football team this, guys, you will get out what you
put into it. Period. So if you're not busting your tail and you're not willing to push sixty seventy and sometimes eighty hour work weeks, do not cry to me about the fact that you're not getting the desired outcomes and just meaning you will get out eventually. It will be very similar to the effort and the resources that you put in right, and it usually takes a lot longer putting in than to get out right. Usually there's a delay there.
Yeah.
Eventually, yep, eventually you will get an ROI.
Yeah, but it's going to take a while. I agree completely. Sometimes you have take zero paycheck to do it. Mack and I did that for like four years. We did that without question. A lot of people who are entrepreneurs understand that. I think most people who are entrepreneurs understand that, Zach. How can people find you? Tell them all about how awesome you are because you're awesome.
Well, I can tell you how easy we are to find. So go to Bowordcapitalmanagement dot com or Know your riskpodcast dot com. You can sign up there or subscribe to our podcast. We do it once a day. It's about twenty five to thirty five minutes, go over everything that matters in the world of finance or any politics related
to finance or investing. And then just today did about an hour long interview with a buddy of mine that just put out a book about Warren Buffett put out interviews with specialists and folks in the industry about once a week. And yeah, between those you can find out everything to know about Boward Capital Management and hopefully you'll become a client and you know, we can all do a'll make a lot of money together, hopefully.
Yeah, skater around the social security all that.
Well, there you go and take advantage is so many of these other things right like that in these era of governments running out of money, there's also all these wonderful investments that can protect you from it and graving a heck of a year. And hopefully we can tell you why.
Yes, thank you, Zach, appreciate you.
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