Don't feel bad, though, because it turns out many national brands have skipped over them, too.

Adweek reported in April that CNBC analyzed a large sample of companies' Wall Street earnings calls. In the more than 17,000 transcripts reviewed, Gen X was mentioned only 16 times while corporate executives gave Gen Y plenty of mentions. CNBC noted, "Companies do not seem to pay much attention to Gen X at all," according to the national magazine.

Overlooking Gen Xers could be a big mistake because many are in their prime when it comes to their career and earnings power.

But this generation is also facing substantial financial challenges and looking for straightforward, candid help and advice. This may open a window of opportunity for credit unions to improve member retention and foster deeper relationships.

A nationwide online quantitative survey of 2,000 U.S. adults ages 35 to 67 conducted by Allianz Life Insurance Co. found Gen Xers are burdened with greater debt loads than baby boomers. Gen X carries 60% more mortgage debt, 140% more student loan debt, and 33% more credit card debt than boomers.

That debt is preventing Gen Xers from putting enough money away for retirement and most of them said retiring is just a romantic fantasy. However, The Allianz survey also found Gen Xers are willing to seek help from financial professionals as long as they are empathetic and non-judgmental.

The survey also found Gen Xers prefer having access to financial professionals to address their specific needs beyond asset allocation and accumulation, and have the ability to shift recommendations when personal circumstances change.

Meador said that could provide opportunities for credit unions.

"I think a lot of people these days are putting money away for retirement, but they are doing so without seeing the finish line," he said. "I don't think anyone yet has worked it out to tell Larry Meador, for example, that they're going to be able to retire at 55, and they're going to be fine if they have this much money and here's their course to getting to that money goal. I think, if anything, Gen Xers are starting to get worried about retirement and may want that type of financial advice service."

In addition, the results of a Fiserv survey of 3,050 adults released earlier this year said 60% of consumers view financial management as a "must do" versus a "want to," and more than 50% of consumers view their financial institutions as partners in managing their finances.

"Tasks such as paying bills, budgeting or saving for retirement are a fundamental part of people's daily lives," Fiserv Chief Operating Officer Mark Ernst said. "Most consumers look to their bank or credit union as a partner, and financial institutions have a significant opportunity to provide the financial advice and tools they need to help them achieve their dreams."

How credit unions reach out to Gen Xers is particularly important because this generation hates the hard sell.

Meredith Olmstead, an inbound marketing consultant and founding partner of Social Stairway, said credit unions should stop selling and start nurturing members with useful, accurate and reliable information that can help them improve their financial lives.

"When we think of Generation X for our clients, we think of them more in terms of their pain points at their stage of life and their persona," Olmstead explained.

She noted Gen Xers are midway through their careers, probably have young to teenage kids and are looking at saving up for their college education while also taking care of their parents. They're likely to own a house and may want to remodel it.

"When you develop those personas of your membership around their pain points, their financial challenges and their hopes and dreams, you can then develop content around those topics to position your credit union as a trusted adviser," she said.

For the $222 million AERO Federal Credit Union in Glendale, Ariz., Social Stairway helped develop an email content marketing campaign on home equity loans.

The first email didn't sell anything. Instead, it had links to information about how to select a contractor and recommended home improvement projects for do-it-yourselfers, which many Gen Xers are. Another email provided a guest blog about the advantages of home equity loans and how they can be used to improve a person's finances.

A follow up email featured a testimonial from a credit union member who saved $800 to $1,000 a month by taking an AERO home equity loan that consolidated his high-interest debt.

Subsequent emails promoted the credit union's home equity loan product and also stressed AERO's service mission for members. The final email had an open rate of 39% because it was sent only to members who had clicked through to learn more about the promotion or had indicated in past emails or surveys they were considering doing work on their homes.

In March, April and May, the credit union's home equity loans increased to 66, up from 33 home equity loans that were sold in March, April and May of last year.

While the home equity loan promotion also included online display ads, direct mail, press releases and in-branch materials, the content marketing emails contributed to the campaign's success.

The entire campaign drove 427 visits to the credit union's home equity loan landing page, where visitors spent an average of more than three minutes. The email campaign sent 100 members to the landing page.

Gen Xer Amy Hibbard, communications director for Geezeo in Braintree, Mass., said credit unions can appeal to her generation of members by becoming their advocate and not just offering loans and credit cards.

"I think it is important for everybody to know that their financial institution is there to be their advocate," Hibbard said. "But I really think that for Gen X, this is extremely important because of where they sit financially, the fact that they have children but still have parents they need to help, and the fact they were riddled with a little more debt than others because of the Great Recession."

What can help solidify member loyalty and generate more business for credit unions over the long run is to provide Gen Xers with personalized financial education, advice and tools, she said.

"It's showing them that you are giving them this service and that you are their advocate," she explained. "We are getting older and we're seeing that we don't have the savings that we need, we don't have the stability that we need in our financial lives and we don't know how to get there."

Hibbard's company provides personal financial management tools and services to about 400 financial institutions across the country. Since 2010, Geezeo has been providing PFM-related marketing support for banks and credit unions to help them promote the financial advocate concept.

For example, during the first quarter of 2016, Geezeo released marketing materials with a social media component that provided budgeting tips and money management advice. While Gen Xers are just as savvy as millennials on all the latest digital devices, on the social media front, Gen Xers tend to gravitate toward Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram, and they still like to use email.

And at the end of last year, Geezeo launched a PFM prototype with branded apps for home shopping, buying a car, forming a business, having a child, saving for education, wedding planning and planning for retirement.

"Our lives are filled with milestones and with them comes plenty of reasons to worry about money," Geezeo Chief Marketing Officer Bryan Clagett said. "Financial institutions can be real heroes, offering timely, relevant solutions that reduce friction while better positioning the FI as an enabler."