Are younger Australians feeling the pinch while older Aussies are living it up?

You could call it the revenge of the nerds, with economic data saying older Australians called Baby Boomers and older Gen X’ers are spending wildly and probably happily, while younger Australians are feeling the pinch.

This is the conclusion of analysis on CBA’s data on our discretionary spending that says Boomers are travelling, going out and buying big retail items such as cars and TVs as their homes and super grow in value. They’re being joined by older Gen X’ers who’ve seen their kids grow up and are at the peak of their earnings, with a shrinking mortgage as the value of their homes also spike in value.

The Gen X group straddle the ages of 44 to 60, and it’s the upper half who might be living it up with the Boomers.

The Australian’s Joseph Carbone has looked at the numbers and found the following: “The latest CBA customer data shows discretionary spending growth from October to December 2025 was highest in the 55-64 age bracket (5 per cent) and the 65-plus segment (4.6 per cent).”

While this is good news for older Aussies, Citi analyst Adrian Lemme argues it has been this spending that has pushed inflation higher.

Judo Bank chief economic adviser Warren Hogan told Carbone that Baby Boomers will be the “fastest-growing age cohort in our economy over the next five years in terms of spending.”

As the big spenders have been the 40-55 age group, this is a new development for a Western economy.

While Gen Ys have endured a tougher life lately, Hogan thinks Gen Zs seem to be living for today. Spending growth on non-essential items among the 20-24 year-old segment rose to 2.7% (from 1.4% a year earlier), ahead of the 25-34 cohort, where discretionary spending growth rose from 1.9% to 2.1%.

Hogan thinks that as Gen Z can’t see any hope of buying a home, they’re spending instead of saving. And all this is being helped by unemployment at historically low levels.

The impact of rising interest rates after a boom in house prices has meant Gen Ys with a mortgage and younger Gen X’ers are feeling the stress of inflation and interest rates. Discretionary spending growth for those aged 45-54 actually fell from 4.6% in the December quarter to 4.3%.

Consumer behaviour expert, QUT professor Gary Mortimer says while older Australians are spending on holidays, dining out, upgrading electronics (such as getting a big TV) and new cars, younger consumers are “driven by fast fashion, taking advantage of hyper-low discounters like Temu and Shein.”

On travel, The Daily Telegraph looked at the new trend of Australians over 55 years of age, where 67% are lining up for extended travel experience or an overdue gap year.

Industry research has found four in five Australians aged over 55 never took a gap year to travel, a decision one in five still regret.

The bottom line to all these changes in spending by different groups is that property has a big impact on what we spend. It’s why governments at the federal and state levels need to improve the supply of these nationally loved assets.