“Which generation is the best at investing their money, and which is the worst?”

Let me start calling out some spades.

The world-wide market crashes that preceded the GFC are the most recent exam sat by investors. Who failed and who passed?

Gen Y: “DNS” – Did Not Sit. With rare exceptions, you don’t have any money and barely any super. That’s okay, you’re not supposed to. You should be enjoying life, before responsibilities/careers really start. But with no chance to have your investments blown to smithereens … you effectively skipped class.

Gen X: “C+”. Probably some shares, maybe a margin loan and a bit of super accumulated. So long as you didn’t take up day-trading in October 2007, just before the poop hit the fan, you probably got through okay. Were probably concentrating harder on the mortgage at the time.

Boomers: “F”. It’s karma that your super and investments suffered the most … because your generation caused it! That is, Boomers were running the governments and corporations that created the conditions that caused the carnage that led to the mess. Your super took a beating. Your leveraged portfolios were smashed. You can’t blame anyone else. Fail.

Retirees: “A-”. If you haven’t been sent to the colonies for stealing a loaf of bread, you’ve done well. You were probably easing back on your investments at the right time. Retirees in general score well. Except my Grandma. Still abusing credit cards at your age, Grandma? You should be ashamed of yourself.

Bruce Brammall is the author of Debt Man Walking (www.debtman.com.au) and a licensed financial adviser.