Baby Boomer Behaviors: Stats and Data on How This Generation Manages Money

Forty-five percent of Baby Boomers check their financial accounts at least once a day. Despite taking an active role in managing their finances, almost 1 in 4 Baby Boomers (23%) are still using spreadsheets or another manual process to track and manage their money.

As more and more Baby Boomers reach retirement, financial services providers can provide guidance and intuitive, intelligent tools that help build long-term financial strength. Here’s a collection of MX’s top statistics, graphs, and research on how Baby Boomers approach finances. 

In this post, you’ll find stats and graphics related to: 

• How Baby Boomers Feel About Finances
• Baby Boomer Approach to Money Management
• Financial Management Features Baby Boomers Want Most

Want to learn more about how different generations of consumers approach their finances? Check out our companion blogs on Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X.

How Baby Boomers Feel About Finances

• Nearly one-third of consumers are confident in their ability to cover any expenses, with Baby Boomers (41%) and Millennials (34%) most confident. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• 22% of Baby Boomers say their top financial goal for 2024 is paying off credit card debt. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024): 

• Only 38% of respondents are confident they will be able to retire comfortably. Most alarmingly, this includes 40% of Baby Boomers — those closest to retirement age. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)
• 77% of U.S. consumers believe an individual can have more than one primary financial relationship — and more than 80% of Baby Boomers believe it. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024) 

Baby Boomer Approach to Money Management

• When asked how long they’ve had their oldest financial account, 22% of all respondents say they have had an account for more than 15 years. And, it’s no surprise that age means longer relationships. Nearly 50% of Baby Boomers have had an account for more than 15 years. (How to Keep Consumers From Breaking Up with Banks, 2024)

• 45% of Baby Boomers check their financial accounts at least once a day. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022)
• When asked how they currently track and manage their finances, most consumers (45%) say they only check their finances through their financial accounts. This is even higher among older generations — 56% of Gen X and 48% of Baby Boomers. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• 23% of Baby Boomers are still using spreadsheets or another manual process to track and manage finances. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• Baby Boomers (38%) are the generation most likely to pay off the full balance of their credit card each month. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• Gen Z is least likely to have a credit card — 21% say they don’t have one, compared to 11% of Baby Boomers. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• Only Baby Boomers chose credit cards as their most preferred payment method for online shopping. (Consumer Money Matters, 2022)

Online Payment Preference

In-Person Payment Preference

• Older generations are less likely to leverage automatic payments. Only 29% of Baby Boomers set up automatic payments with each provider compared to 42% of Gen Z and 4!% of Millennials. (How to Drive Engagement When Consumers Refuse to Change, 2024)
• When asked what type of financial products they currently use, 22% of respondents say they have a cryptocurrency account, compared to only 5% of Baby Boomers. (Consumer Research on Digital and Mobile Banking, 2022)
• Across generations, we asked what statement most closely aligns with their current perspective on applying for loans. The largest portion of Gen X and Baby Boomers align with the statement that loans are necessary for larger purchases such as a home or vehicle. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 

• Nearly 1 in 4 Baby Boomers (23%) never perform finance-related tasks using a mobile app, compared to 9% of overall respondents. And, one-third say they have no finance-related mobile apps on their phones. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• When Baby Boomers do use finance apps, banking apps are the most used. (What is Financial Wellness?, 2023) 
• Baby Boomers are the generation least likely to report an unrecognized transaction as fraud at 7%, compared to 24% of Gen Z. (A Time for Trust)

Financial Management Features Baby Boomers Want Most

• Here are the features that Baby Boomers most want for financial wellness (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022):
• 34% educational programs to teach you how to become financially stronger
• 28% debt repayment tools like calculators to estimate how much time it will take to save money / pay off debt
• 26% budgeting tools
• 25% predictive insights on what your account balance will be on a future date based on spending habits
• 24% automatic savings options, such as rounding up to the nearest dollar on purchases and depositing in savings

• The top features Baby Boomers want most when it comes to the security and control of their financial accounts are (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022):
  • 48% biometric login options
  • 30% ability to download your financial data
  • 28% required multi-factor authentication
  • 27% ability to restrict transactions at specific vendors or locations
  • 26% ability to restrict transactions above a certain amount

• When it comes to what consumers most want to help them manage financial accounts online or through a mobile app, here are the features that rose to the Top 3 most often for Baby Boomers (What Consumers Really Want from their Financial Providers, 2022):
  • 45% integration with digital wallets like Apple Pay or Google Pay
  • 45% instantly issued virtual cards
  • 36% connect outside financial accounts so they can see all financial data in one place
  • 32% order a personalized card
  • 25% open new accounts online