Latest news with #GenX'ers
Buzz Feed
a day ago
- General
- Buzz Feed
Gen Z Reveals Out Of Touch Things Older People Say
Gen Z'ers, millennials, Gen X'ers, and all got our fair share of differences. But of course, we coexist on this planet together, which often means disagreements between the generations. Whether it's a heated debate at family dinner or a fiery internet discussion, I know we've all been there. And I know I sound a I say this, but there's actually a lot we can learn from each other. So recently, we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share some out-of-touch phrases and comments older generations don't realize are actually not cool — and they're so spot on, I'm sitting here shouting, "SAY IT LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK!" So here's what people said: "'AI is going to take over your job someday!' said to me nonchalantly by a (retired) boomer patient. First, what an insane thing to say out loud! I would never think to tell someone that they will be unemployed and useless someday or that their job will become obsolete. Second, I work for an eye doctor and almost nothing I do can be done by AI, even as it continues to advance." "In my early 20s, I started taking care of my mental health. My parents found out I was taking anxiety/depression medication and my mom said, 'Isn't it just mind over matter?'" "My dad doesn't believe there is any sort of wage gap, despite me literally being paid less than my male counterparts who were worse at the job." "I was stalked by an ex for an entire year, and all my mom could say was, 'But he's such a sweet boy! He really loves you! Stop being so mean to him!' My father patted me on the back and declared, 'That's how a man gets a good woman,' as if I should find this flattering instead of scary." "When seeing a woman use a carrier for her baby while shopping in a store: 'Only lazy people don't carry their baby.'" "A middle-aged woman told me that me not having a job is because of my lack of motivation and drive. Miss girl never had a job in her life and thought that in order to get one, you need to hand in a resume and they'll call you within a day. I tell her about employment ghosting and the current state of the economy?" "I lost 75 pounds, and my mom comments every time she sees me, 'Now that you've got your figure back, men will be knocking down your door.' On Easter she said, 'You get thinner and more beautiful every time I see you.'" "'You don't have ADHD, you're not hyper enough.' If that's true, then why was I at eight years old saying I needed to use the bathroom and instead just standing outside in the hallway because I got overstimulated by the classroom and hyperfixated on otters?" "My almost 60-year-old boomer father still believes in the 60-20-20 financial rule, which is to set apart 60% of your paycheck for bills and utilities, 20% of your paycheck for luxuries (travel, shopping, etc.) and the other 20% of your paycheck for emergency funds. With the way that the economy works right now, it's an unrealistic BS rule that doesn't really work anymore. Everything keeps getting so much more expensive that I'm almost living paycheck to paycheck." "Whilst working at Starbucks on Christmas, I got asked if I was an orphan since I was working on a holiday. I was like, ma'am, you're the one here buying eight drinks for your family to have while you open presents..." "My landlady told me, 'Just get your groceries at a cheaper store and don't buy Starbucks and you'll be able to save for a house.' Ma'am, we pay you to live in your house — you must know that is our biggest living expense." "My aunt pulled the whole 'walk in and demand a job, and they'll give it to you since they will be impressed with your moxie and skills.' Umm, when was the last time you had to find a job?" "My mother recently got remarried; she is her 76 and her husband is 81. He's a very nice guy, but has no idea how the world works. He bought his first home in cash in 1994 by driving around until he saw a 'for sale' sign. No joke, he got 10 acres of property and a house for $200K in what is a very nice area of New Jersey. He tells my wife and I, who constantly got outbid for houses, that we shouldn't rent and one nice Sunday just drive around until we see a house we like and then make an offer. I will never understand how boomers became so out of touch with reality." "I was helping out a friend and working as a cashier at a local grocery store. An older lady who came through my lane asked me if I wished I had gone to college so I wouldn't have to do a job like this. Lady, I have a day job, I manage an accounting department in a large construction company and make a six-figure income." "'Depression is made up. You get stressed from being lazy.'" "'All these kids just taking out student loans so they can party; you can go to college for free in this state!' I swear, boomers lack any critical thinking or even just a quick little Google search! It's infuriating!" "My grandpa (67 years old) told me and my brother we could BOTH get a FEW things from the gas station, and he gave us $5. Not $5 each, but $5 for us to SPLIT. That's not even enough for both of us to get a drink." "I was a struggling actress in LA and my mother used to say, 'Just go into the studio and find a famous director and tell them you want a job.' Other old people would tell me to 'go find a famous person and give them your scripts!' In what reality would I even get close to a famous person without security throwing me onto the ground? Studios have gates with guards, and agents don't take unsolicited scripts. So yeah, I never made it in Hollywood despite all the 'great' advice of my elders." "One of my best friends who is openly transgender was called a 'delusional fucker' and 'ungodly' by a churchgoing lady in her late 60s. My friend clapped back, 'Thank goodness your racist, ignorant, accusatory and arrogant generation is dying off slowly but surely.' For context, this was at a Target store a couple of years back." "In the elevator of the downtown skyscraper I worked in. It was National Secretaries' Day. Two of us (young women) were going to a management meeting on another floor when a guy from the investment firm on the top floor said to us, 'Is your boss taking you girls out for lunch to celebrate today?' My friend gave him a look that could kill while replying, 'No, we're taking our secretaries out.'" "When I was 19, my great-grandma decided to watch my favorite movie on TV with me. But two-and-a-half hours into the three-hour movie, she turned it off and spent half an hour complaining, 'Movies just don't have any closure anymore.'" "My wealthy stepmother loved to travel the world and kept suggesting my husband I do it too. Um, our property taxes are more than your house cost in 1969." "I don't remember any of the specific out of touch things my grandparents said before they passed away, but I do remember being baffled by how clueless they were about the world around them considering my grandfather spent multiple hours every day reading the news and my grandmother spent multiple hours a day watching it. Between local news, CNN, newspapers, and magazines, they were constantly consuming information about current affairs — but they still managed to be comically uninformed." What's the most out-of-touch thing an older person has said to you? Tell us in the anonymous form here, or post your response in the comments below. And check out BuzzFeed Canada on Instagram and TikTok for more!
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Can You Guess What Americans Think They Need To Retire Comfortably? Hint: The 'Magic Number' Just Dropped From Last Year
If you've ever assumed retirement meant having a seven-figure nest egg, you're in good company — and maybe a little stressed. For years, Americans have treated the $1 million mark as the gold standard for retiring comfortably. Anything less? Cue the panic attacks. But according to Northwestern Mutual's just-released 2025 Planning & Progress Study, the average American now believes they need $1.26 million tucked away to retire in peace. That's actually down from $1.46 million last year. Don't Miss: Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — 'Scrolling To UBI' — Deloitte's #1 fastest-growing software company allows users to earn money on their phones. Sure, the so-called magic number dropped by $200,000, but don't pop the champagne just yet. According to the same study, most Americans are still wildly unprepared. More than half – 51% – say it's somewhat or very likely they'll outlive their savings. Only 16% feel confident that outliving their savings is "very unlikely." So if your retirement plan is "hope for the best," you're not alone. The 'magic number' to retire comfortably may be down this year, but it's still far beyond what many people actually have. And the gap isn't just wide — it's a canyon. Vanguard's 2024 report puts the average 401(k) balance across all age groups at just $134,128. That's barely a tenth of what Americans say they'll need to retire comfortably. Trending: Maximize saving for your retirement and cut down on taxes: . And what's behind the drop? Inflation is still top of mind, but it's cooled off—dropping from around 6% in 2023 to about 3% in 2024. That doesn't mean prices are falling; it just means they're not rising quite as fast. Groceries still feel like a splurge and rent still makes you cry, but apparently, that slight dip was enough for Americans to shave down their expectations. Either way, the new target still feels like a stretch. One in four Americans has just a single year of income saved. Among Gen X'ers, 52% have saved up to three times their annual income, but 54% don't think they'll be financially ready to retire when the time comes. Which raises a fair question—not from a study or expert, just plain observation: Are Americans adjusting the number because they think they can genuinely live on less, or have they just accepted that $1.26 million sounds more reachable than $1.46 million? Maybe this is optimism. Maybe it's financial you're wondering how anyone hits that $1.26 million target: you either start young or start wealthy. To get there by age 65, a 20-year-old would need to sock away $330 a month at a 7% return. Wait until you're 50? That jumps to a casual $3,958 per month. Yes, the goal dipped—but the struggle to reach it hasn't. Americans may be adjusting expectations, but most still have a long way to go before retirement feels anything close to "comfortable." Read Next: Many are using retirement income calculators to check if they're on pace — Deloitte's fastest-growing software company partners with Amazon, Walmart & Target – Image: Shutterstock Up Next: Transform your trading with Benzinga Edge's one-of-a-kind market trade ideas and tools. Click now to access unique insights that can set you ahead in today's competitive market. Get the latest stock analysis from Benzinga? APPLE (AAPL): Free Stock Analysis Report TESLA (TSLA): Free Stock Analysis Report This article Can You Guess What Americans Think They Need To Retire Comfortably? Hint: The 'Magic Number' Just Dropped From Last Year originally appeared on © 2025 Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Buzz Feed
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
People Are Sharing The Most Gen X Things They Can Think Of, And As A Millennial, This Is Soooo Interesting To Read
When it comes to online discourse about generations, millennials and boomers are typically on the frontlines. But it was FINALLY time for Gen X (aka the forgotten generation) to shine when Reddit user Ruffffian asked, "What is THE most Gen X thing?" 1. "Gen X is old enough to remember (and appreciate) life before the internet and cell phones, but we're young enough to transition into that world without a hitch." 2. "My sister and I would call the local rock station to request a song, then we'd sit there with a tape at the ready to hit record as soon as they played our song. Repeat that about ten times, and you've got a nice mixtape." — HoopOnPoop "Or they talked over your song, and you had to call back later." — ClassicRedSparkle 3. "Finding porn in the woods while BMXing." — halflife_3 "All of my guy friends have had this experience! Creek porn, field porn, woods porn, ditch porn. The greenish areas throughout our city were just wonders of discovery for middle schooler boys in the '80s." — spacefaceclosetomine 4. "Columbia House collect notices." — Additional-Olive-405 Author's note: For anyone too young to know what this is, Columbia Records had a music club called Columbia House. It used aggressive marketing techniques to try to trick people into memberships. Kind of like spam texts before texting. 5. "Crank calls." 6. "Hair crimpers and getting your hair permed. Riding bikes with no helmets. Buying smokes for my dad at the shop." — Master-Cricket9906 7. "Arcades. No other generation claimed them like we did. Before Gen X, graphics weren't good enough. After Gen X, you'd play the games on your own home console." 9. "Breakdancing." 11. "Putting baby oil on and sun-baking (we were LITERALLY baking ourselves)." 13. "Record stores." 15. "Swatch watches." – fredfreddy4444 For anyone who has no idea what a Swatch watch is: "They're essentially watch fads. If you buy an expensive Swiss watch, most people will buy one or two for their entire lifetime. That's no good for continued business. With Swatch watches, you buy a cheap plastic watch every year — sometimes more often. I remember the rich kids having five Swatches, and they'd wear a different one every day." — TonyJZX 16. "Doing whatever I wanted for hours after school by myself because my parents were still working. Being allowed to roam the streets until dark." — Master-Cricket9906 17. "Massive CD collections that were neatly stored in binders for easy access." — Suspicious-Sleep5227 19. "Grunge music. I work with a handful of Gen X'ers, and the only music they can consistently agree on is the Pearl Jam station." — coderedmountaindewd 20. "Trapper keepers." — Mostly_Overrated77 21. "Blockbuster on a Friday night." Koron / Getty Images — SuvenPan "Hanging by the door to see if any good movies were just returned." — tmlau23 22. "Being the last unreachable generation. There were hours where no one knew where we were, and our parents had zero ways to contact us." — nakedreader_ga 23. "Parachute pants. The noise was deafening in the halls between classes!"
Buzz Feed
25-03-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
"It's Cowardly And Inconsiderate": 23 Things That Are Considered "Normal" Nowadays That Older Adults Are Tired Of Seeing
From endless hours scrolling to tipping culture, there are a lot of things we do every day that feel pretty normal at this point. But I recently started to question some of these common practices when Redditor u/-----Diana----- asked the r/AskOldPeople subreddit to share the social norms that exist today that they disagree with. Here are just a few that Gen X'ers and Boomers can't stand. 1. "People posting their entire lives online. I'm probably excessively private, but it's really crazy how people are so willing and even eager to broadcast their personal lives to the world. I don't think people fully appreciate how possible it is to string together little details from multiple sources and form a detailed picture of someone's life. That should scare people." 3. "I'm really not comfortable with all the ads for betting and sports book platforms." 4. "Not being willing or able to just be superficially nice in social settings. Sometimes it's okay to just be pleasant instead of making your unique and specific viewpoint heard." — u/stealth_bohemian "I talk about this all the time. So many more people seem to have an Instagram or Twitter mentality that everyone NEEDS to know all of their thoughts and doings. But on the other hand, I'm all in favor of calling out bad behavior now instead of 'politely looking the other way.' The same social prohibitions against speaking out made things less confrontational and fostered lots of racist, sexist, and abusive behavior." — u/Reneeisme 5. "Kids (and some adults, but I mostly see kids) with tablets or phones at full volume out in public. I have no interest in hearing other people's games, videos, music, or phone conversations." — u/Amesaskew "I was at a FedEx the other day and a youngish guy was screaming his whole conversation on his phone. No one would say anything, so I just loudly told him that no one wanted or needed to hear him. Even 15–20 years ago, this would have embarrassed the person. But not now, and not him. He just went on relating his story as if no one else existed." — u/oldnyker 6. "The widespread inability to spell words correctly or use them properly (e.g. their, there, and they're). And don't get me started on grammar." — u/Highway-Organic 7. "Being around others while you're obviously sick. It's been normalized because we have a garbage safety net that doesn't allow people to take care of themselves financially and not make others sick. Or allow them to be off work to care for sick children. Forty years ago, when unions were strong, there were lots of sick days in lots of jobs, and people were mostly able to stay home. There's always been a segment of the working population that got screwed, but now more than ever, we need generous sick leave policies in place for EVERYONE." 8. "I disagree with people being dismissive because I am old. I have at least one more sucker punch left in me for the next 'OK boomer' comment I get in person." — u/MissHibernia 9. "Ghosting people, both professionally and personally. This is only appropriate if you're in a dangerous situation where your safety is at risk. Otherwise, it's a cowardly and inconsiderate way to handle a situation. If you need to break away from any kind of relationship or commitment, you need to tell the person/people so they don't waste time waiting on you or wondering what happened to you. It's common courtesy, and ghosting shows a huge lack of consideration for everyone involved." 10. "Declarations of 'body count' to dating partners. I don't like the violent implication of the term, and I don't like intimate history being tallied like a score." — u/meddit_rod 11. "Texting instead of sitting down and having an actual conversation, especially about difficult topics." Tim Robberts / Getty Images — u/Th3TruthIs0utTh3r3 "I received a text message to notify me that my aunt died. WTF, who does that?" — u/tundrabat 12. "Tipping on everything. Especially with those iPads that spin around and awkwardly ask you for 10% because someone got you a muffin from behind the counter. Make it end." — u/larryhood35 13. "Playing with your phone while in the presence of live conversation." — u/aprehensivebad42 "In the same line, expecting someone to be available at all times. If I don't check my phone when I'm having lunch with someone, it's three missed calls and five messages asking why I'm not answering. Because I was having a conversation with someone and have manners!" — u/Ancient-War2839 14. "Wearing pajamas and slippers to go shopping. If you can't be bothered to put on fresh clothes, don't go out in public. Also, do they then wear those pajamas to bed? Ew!" — u/catdoctor 15. "Mine is that nobody is taught cursive anymore, and they surely can't read it! My future daughter-in-law's little brother (19) couldn't sign his name for his driver's license and had to ask her to do it for him." 16. "Intentionally lying, then doubling down on it." — u/longines99 "I hate it when people lie to my face and I know 100% that they are lying. When it's a family member or close friend I can call them out on it. But if it's a coworker or someone I hardly know, I just have to grin and bear it. Unless it pertains to me, then I'll set them straight." — u/FuddyDuddyGrinch 17. "Never saying 'no' to your child. It sounds very 'boomer,' I know. But I have two kids born in the early 2000s and one child born in 2015, and so many more kids are brats now. Don't get me wrong, kids have always been kids and act out, but now they are more rude." 18. "I wish people still dressed up a little more. I dine at some seriously nice restaurants and I guess it's OK if someone decides to dine there in a t-shirt, cargo shorts, and flip-flops. But I gotta say, it sorta reduces my own experience, especially if we're celebrating a special occasion." — u/MrsChickenPam 19. "Recording everything: fights, car crashes, traffic stops, people in the gym (yourself or others), and recording in public and getting mad at pedestrians for 'ruining the shot.'" 21. "The biggest one by far is the earbud culture — it bleeds into a level of unsettling rudeness and isolation. You might find small talk tedious but I promise you, the connection to the outside world that small talk creates is a gift to you. Humans aren't meant to be so isolated. As a parent, I give a lot of rides. I can't tell you how many teens have gotten into my car without even a simple 'hi' or 'hello' and sat silently with their heads in their phones and earbuds in. Say 'hi.' Talk about the weather for a minute. It might be dumb, but we are human, and civility and connection matter. Otherwise, all you've got is that phone and your earbuds. It's kind of a bleak existence." 22. "Interrupting someone while they're talking. Maybe it's just me because it's a huge pet peeve, but I feel like I'm constantly being interrupted or people are always talking over one another. When I politely say, 'Excuse me, I was in the middle of talking,' or, 'Hold on a sec, please, so I can finish what I was saying,' I get looked at like I have three heads or I'm totally out of line." — u/GoodbyeXlove 23. "Vaping in public really bothers me. I hated it when restaurants and bars were filled with cigarette smoke before 1990 (or whenever that changed). Now I hate seeing people vaping everywhere I go. I see it at concerts, in bars, restaurants, grocery stores, the gas station — everywhere."
Buzz Feed
17-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
"Gen Z Gets Pinterest Tattoos": These Tattoo Artists Are Revealing The Tattoos That Each Generation Gets Allllll The Time
I've never gotten a tattoo, mainly because I suffer from terrible indecision about what tattoo I should get. What if I pick something too ~trendy~ and it's the same tattoo everyone else has? Or — god forbid — what if I pick something CRINGE? Luckily, the tattoo artists at Axiom Tattoo in San Diego are helping us all out. In a series of TikToks, the artists reveal the most common tattoo designs and trends for each generation. For millennials, apparently dreamcatcher tattoos are very common, especially on the hip. And when millennials get a ribcage tattoo, they tend to get it on the side of the ribcage, under the arm (while Gen Z tends to get it more on the front, under the pecs/breasts). Another popular millennial choice: watercolor tattoos, with splotches of color that blend together. For Gen X, apparently owl tattoos are very popular. A feather tattoo might also be a giveaway that you're Gen X. Gen X'ers also supposedly get a lot of tribal tattoos, or Chinese character tattoos. As for Gen Z, the current trends are sparkles, kinda like the ones on the right below: And apparently " angel numbers" are a big thing right now. Gen Z also loves bows and lockets. Other Gen Z tattoo trends mentioned by the artists include postage stamps, heart-shaped cybersigilism designs, and — very specifically — Haku, the dragon from Spirited Away. And according to the comments, they nailed it: Axiom Tattoo / Via
