What is the biggest financial challenge facing your generation over the next decade?

Ah, being a Gen Xer is like living in Queensland. “Beautiful one day, perfect the next”. Could life get better?

Our careers are blooming, our tin lids bring us mountainous joy and we have our own versions of The Castle, complete with a “pool room” for the extra special stuff.

Have I forgotten something? Oh, yeah. The stuff that comes with that. The joys are equally matched by work pressure, out-of-control kids’ expenses … and the monster mortgage.

Statistics show the biggest average incomes are earned between 45 and 50. After that, it slides. Not for everyone. But it will happen to more of us than not.

Our greatest challenge? To not blow, before we’re over the hill (like those Boomers), the financial opportunity of our rising incomes. To put away to build wealth for ourselves, even while we’re dealing with the peak expenses that are currently smashing us.

Simply, too many of us are making too many excuses about getting started on wealth creation.

If you don’t start in your 30s and 40s, when your incomes are rising and you can give yourself an extra decade or two for the power of compounding to unleash its true force … it’s will be too late

You don’t have a choice.

Xers need to start investing, both inside and outside super. Now. It doesn’t have to be much. It doesn’t have to be hard. But you need to do it regularly. It needs to become an automatic part of your weekly/monthly financial behaviour.

Inertia. It’s hard to get started. But if you don’t start now, when will you?

Bruce Brammall is the principal adviser with Castellan Financial Consulting (www.castellanfinancial.com.au) and author of Debt Man Walking.