Recently, I did a stand-up comedy workshop for 8-14-year-olds. We ended with a finale that involved a performance for their parents, folks around my age (semi-disclosure: late 40s). They were proud of their children and filming them on their mobile phones. But they were also petrified of what their kids might end up saying as jokes.
We, Gen X, are uniquely placed in our geometry of bad luck. We feared our parents. Now, we fear our children. Today's parenting means your kid dictates what is to be done and not done - not the other way around. You tiptoe around them to make sure no one is offended. Slightly different from the way you or I grew up. In my case, which was one tight blow from a drunk Anglo-Indian English class teacher for misspelling 'hyperbole'.
How did we get here? By 50, Gen X should have been masters of the universe. MDs, editors, billionaires, ad gurus - like in the TV show Mad Men - with our feet up on a large wooden desk, smoking a cigar while shouting at minions, having martini lunches on unlimited expense accounts....
How, in 2025, are we the generation made obsolete by AI? How are we the generation terrified that if we say anything to Gen Z employees, their HR complaints will end our careers? How did we end up being the generation that watched entire industries - film, journalism, advertising, law, even expertise itself - get wiped out, only to be replaced by kids with a ring light and an Instagram reel doing in minutes (and often better) what we spent 20 years learning?
It is no surprise that the most Googled words of Gen X are: 'How much money do I need to retire?' There are many social media experts who give you guidance on the retirement number, or 'FIRE' (financial independence, retire early) number - a number in the bank after which a Gen Xer can stop working.
Gen X thinks there's a number to exit the rat race— but the race is a treadmill, and the belt never stops
Some experts talk about investing in property, some about SWPs. All assume people our age have a corpus. Many of us are anti-house ownership. Everyone seems to have figured it out. Everyone thinks there's a way to check out in one's early-50s and spend the afternoons in Goa or Phuket, reading Elon Musk biographies, calm in the knowledge that our investments will result in smooth monthly income. No more mind games and politicking with the boss half your age.
Instagram is filled with retirement gurus telling us they know the exact number each of us needs to throw in the towel. I even saw one analysis that estimated one would need an extra ₹2 cr if they didn't consume any sugar after 40 - because that would mean they'd live longer by 5 years. I gulped an extra gulab jamun hearing this, hoping to shorten my expenses.
Let's face it, most Gen Xers aren't looking for a proper retirement plan. They just want to know how much other Gen Xers have, so they don't feel like total losers. I've seen that number range from ₹2 lakh to ₹15 lakh a month on Facebook. Which tells us absolutely nothing. That's like saying someone's IQ is between 12 and 180. Maybe no one actually knows.
The sad truth about Gen X's existential plight is that there is no rest. We may think we have a number that will get us off the rat race. But the race is a treadmill - when we hit that number, a war starts, a child demands financial assistance for their bakery startup, inflation goes nuts due to some unpredictable global shift, the Goa refuge is lost in a storm, the rupee devalues such that we start bartering....
In a Trump world, we are, as TS Eliot said, 'still and still moving'. The only fire is not of retirement, but a real one: the one every Gen Xer tries to put out every day, just to stay solvent, scared, and relevant.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
We, Gen X, are uniquely placed in our geometry of bad luck. We feared our parents. Now, we fear our children. Today's parenting means your kid dictates what is to be done and not done - not the other way around. You tiptoe around them to make sure no one is offended. Slightly different from the way you or I grew up. In my case, which was one tight blow from a drunk Anglo-Indian English class teacher for misspelling 'hyperbole'.
How did we get here? By 50, Gen X should have been masters of the universe. MDs, editors, billionaires, ad gurus - like in the TV show Mad Men - with our feet up on a large wooden desk, smoking a cigar while shouting at minions, having martini lunches on unlimited expense accounts....
How, in 2025, are we the generation made obsolete by AI? How are we the generation terrified that if we say anything to Gen Z employees, their HR complaints will end our careers? How did we end up being the generation that watched entire industries - film, journalism, advertising, law, even expertise itself - get wiped out, only to be replaced by kids with a ring light and an Instagram reel doing in minutes (and often better) what we spent 20 years learning?
It is no surprise that the most Googled words of Gen X are: 'How much money do I need to retire?' There are many social media experts who give you guidance on the retirement number, or 'FIRE' (financial independence, retire early) number - a number in the bank after which a Gen Xer can stop working.
Gen X thinks there's a number to exit the rat race— but the race is a treadmill, and the belt never stops
Some experts talk about investing in property, some about SWPs. All assume people our age have a corpus. Many of us are anti-house ownership. Everyone seems to have figured it out. Everyone thinks there's a way to check out in one's early-50s and spend the afternoons in Goa or Phuket, reading Elon Musk biographies, calm in the knowledge that our investments will result in smooth monthly income. No more mind games and politicking with the boss half your age.
Instagram is filled with retirement gurus telling us they know the exact number each of us needs to throw in the towel. I even saw one analysis that estimated one would need an extra ₹2 cr if they didn't consume any sugar after 40 - because that would mean they'd live longer by 5 years. I gulped an extra gulab jamun hearing this, hoping to shorten my expenses.
Let's face it, most Gen Xers aren't looking for a proper retirement plan. They just want to know how much other Gen Xers have, so they don't feel like total losers. I've seen that number range from ₹2 lakh to ₹15 lakh a month on Facebook. Which tells us absolutely nothing. That's like saying someone's IQ is between 12 and 180. Maybe no one actually knows.
The sad truth about Gen X's existential plight is that there is no rest. We may think we have a number that will get us off the rat race. But the race is a treadmill - when we hit that number, a war starts, a child demands financial assistance for their bakery startup, inflation goes nuts due to some unpredictable global shift, the Goa refuge is lost in a storm, the rupee devalues such that we start bartering....
In a Trump world, we are, as TS Eliot said, 'still and still moving'. The only fire is not of retirement, but a real one: the one every Gen Xer tries to put out every day, just to stay solvent, scared, and relevant.
(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this column are that of the writer. The facts and opinions expressed here do not reflect the views of www.economictimes.com)
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