a stylish boomer couple raising their arms and smiling in a luxury car
Boomers have amassed a lot of wealth over the years — indeed, about half of total household wealth in Canada is held by boomers, with an average net worth of almost $1.2 million, according to Statistics Canada.
So why doesn’t their financial advice make sense to millennials?
Boomers (those born between 1946 and 1964) are often considered the wealthiest generation. “A unique historical situation — strong economic growth, affordable housing markets and booming equity markets — allowed them to build up a handsome fortune,” according to an Allianz report.
But millennials have had a “rougher ride,” says the report, since “they were hit by one crisis after another.”
So what worked for boomers may simply not apply in today’s world — and that could be why there are some money habits that millennials just don’t get. Here are seven of them.
Why rent when you can buy? For many boomers, ‘adulting’ meant buying a house. Renting was seen as throwing money away.
Seventy-eight per cent of Canadian boomers believe home ownership is a good investment, according to a Royal LePage survey.
“The boomer generation strongly values home ownership, for good reason. Real estate has been very, very good to them,” said Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage, in an article about the survey “Most are still working and their home equity has become the bedrock of retirement security.”
Millennials, on the other hand, are faced with much higher home prices (relative to income), which in many cases is pricing them out of the market — especially during a time of job instability and economic uncertainty.
For millennials, renting may be their only option at the moment — but some may also choose to rent. For example, instead of putting money aside for a down payment, they may want to invest that money in index funds rather than home equity. Or they may prefer the simplicity of renting.
Many boomers keep a portion of their retirement savings in ‘safe,’ but low-yield, accounts, such as guaranteed investment certificates (GICs). Some may even leave their money in a traditional savings or checking account (or even cash), since they don’t want to gamble with their money.
But returns on those ‘safe’ accounts may not outpace inflation, meaning their money loses its purchasing power over time.
Millennials came of age as the Internet did, so it makes sense that they may be more comfortable with online and mobile tools to manage their money, including looking for the best savings rates and investment opportunities.
Boomers know that free is fantastic, unless paying a fee gets you access to bigger, better and more rewarding opportunities. For Boomers, retirement is about freedom — and they start with financial tools that give them more of it, such as a premium credit card.
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Read more: ‘You’re going to live on beans and rice’: This senior told Dave Ramsey she has debt and zero savings — here’s his response plus 3 retirement saving tips to get you back on track
When it comes to retirement, 72% of Canadian boomers expect to rely on their pension plan to fund their golden years, according to a 2024 Manulife financial resilience and longevity report.
The defined benefit (DB) pension was “the gold standard when boomers dominated the workforce” in Canada, according to BNN Bloomberg.
For millennials, however, a pension isn’t a given.
As of 2021, 22.9% of private-sector workers in Canada were covered by a registered pension plan, compared to 86.6% of public-sector workers, according to data compiled by Fraser Research.
Millennials may be more likely to build a retirement plan based on a mix of retirement savings tools, including RRSPs, TFSAs and brokerage accounts.
Older generations may view job-hopping by younger generations as a lack of commitment. In their time, loyalty to one company often meant job security and career advancement — and perhaps an early retirement with a decent pension.
But for younger generations, the job market is being continually disrupted — particularly by technology. And to get ahead, job hopping may be necessary.
The average Canadian worker between ages 18 to 65 holds 10 different jobs throughout their career, according to data from Randstad. Younger generations are “more prone to restlessness,” with 66% of millennials contemplating a career change in the following 12 months.
But this strategy could be paying off for millennials. Data from Hays indicates that job seekers who changed jobs saw a salary bump of 10% to 20%.
Cable is the “preferred type of TV service” for boomers, according to a Media Technology Monitor (MTM) report. That’s not to say they aren’t embracing digital media (they are) — but they haven’t cut the cord on cable, either.
About 80% of younger boomers and 70% of older boomers have at least one subscription service, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crave or Disney+, according to the MTM report, more than three in five subscribe to both subscription and cable TV.
Millennials are the cord-cutting generation. Not only can they watch what they want, when they want — without ads — streaming services are much cheaper than cable packages. However, with a plethora of streaming services available, some may end up paying as much for multiple services as a typical cable package.
Eight in 10 (82%) millennials, the “first to recognize the value of subscription streaming services”, subscribe to at least one streaming service, according to Abacus Data.
Financial topics were once considered taboo — you just didn’t talk about money at the dinner table (or any other time). But that’s changing.
Younger generations are more open to discussing everything from how much money they’re making to their investment strategies. Thanks to social media and TikTok, financial discussions are less taboo — even if millennials may still struggle to talk about money with their parents.
Boomers are more likely to seek professional advice on financial matters than younger generations. A survey from Edward Jones and Cerulli Associates found that boomers trust advisors, but millennials trust themselves.
Younger generations often turn elsewhere for financial advice, from online resources and robo-advisors to social media influencers. But this is one area where millennials may be starting to follow in their parents’ footsteps.
Some millennials are now turning to traditional advisors for more complex financial decisions, such as investments and retirement planning.
Younger millennials (46%) and older millennials (50%) are “interested in receiving personal finance information regarding investment strategies,” according to the BMO Real Financial Progress Index. They’re also interested in advice about alternative revenue streams.
While boomers and millennials may not agree on everything — especially when it comes to money matters — it seems they do agree on having a plan for financial wellbeing.
1. Statistics Canada: Distributions of household economic accounts for income, consumption, saving and wealth of Canadian households, 2019 (Jun 26, 2020)
2. Allianz: Financial assets: Surprising relief
3. Royal LePage: Survey says 3.2 million boomers in Canada considering buying a home within the next five years
4. Manulife: Baby boomer retirement planning—how employers can help ease the transition (Apr 22, 2025)
5. BNN Bloomberg: Millennials in a pension pickle as they overtake boomers by Dale Jackson (Feb 23, 2024)
6. Fraser Research Bulletin: Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Canada, 2023 Edition by Milagros Palacios, Nathaniel Li and Ben Eisen (2023)
7. Randstad: Is staying in a job too long hazardous to your career? (Dec 11, 2023)
8. Hays: Hays reveals job seekers who switch jobs can see a significant salary increase despite economic uncertainty (Feb 7, 2023)
9. Media in Canada: The latest findings on Baby Boomers and tech by Patti Summerfield (Feb 26, 2024)
10. Abacus Data: Consumer Spotlight: Streaming Services in Canada by Megan Ross (Nov 28, 2019)
11. Edward Jones: More than Money: Canadian Investors are Pursuing Financial Fulfilment (Jun 24, 2025)
12. Ipsos: For Gen Z and Millennials Knowledge is Power as They Look to Increase Their Financial Literacy Amid High Levels of Financial Anxiety (Sept 21, 2023)
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.