Generation X does not necessarily equal generation debt.

Bookstore shelves might make it seem like everyone between the age of 20 and 40 is struggling to pay off student loans, car notes and credit cards. But despite the proliferation of book titles out there, it just isn't true.

We all know that person who managed to get through college without loans, never got used to swiping a credit card or just didn't blow through cash like a celebrity during a shopping spree.

And we've got friends with fat savings accounts, paid-off cars and extra cash bopping around the stock market.

Now there are finally some numbers to prove that Generation X's attitude isn't all “buy now, pay later.”

According to Ameriprise Financial, 87 percent of GenXers feel it's important to plan for a financially secure life early on.

“Growing up in an era where credit cards have largely replaced currency and college tuition saddles many with huge liabilities before they embark on their careers, they are eager to overcome the moniker of ‘generation debt,' yet find saving for the distant future more challenging,” said Craig Brimhall, vice president of retirement wealth strategies for Ameriprise Financial.

We're more reluctant to part with our money than our parents. We're more likely to wait when it comes to shopping. And, we're more likely to stress over money.

In fact, one in four of us is pretty regularly stressed about money, Ameriprise found. That figure stands at 16 percent for the boomer generation and 10 percent for their parents' generation.

Some of us have made our mistakes and learned our lessons. And some of us clearly don't want to spend years paying off loans as we've seen our parents do.

I have one friend who almost begins to hyperventilate at the thought of taking out student loans for a master's degree. “I don't want any debt,” she says, with a sort of fear in her voice. I have another friend who doesn't have, has never had and vows to never to get a credit card.

Both friends can admit they need help when it comes to money management, another sign Generation X members aren't personal finance slackers, according to Ameriprise.

“When they were asked, ‘Do you think your generation, your parents' generation, or your grandparents' generation has the best money management skills?' only 15 percent of the adult children of boomers said their own generation had the best money-management skills,” Ameriprise said.

Clearly, Ameriprise's study is meant to encourage Gen Xers to seek out the firm's financial-planning services. But I think what the data shows is far more interesting than the company's efforts to rally young potential customers.

Gen X isn't the group of slackers they're sometimes made out to be — especially when it comes to money.