Millennials and Money: Why millennials will become the richest and happiest generation yet

"Money is not happiness. Money is simply a tool to help us survive and to create opportunities/experiences to share with those around us"

Admist the great depression in the 1930s and 1940s, the US economy was shot. While this was a terrible time for millions of Americans, valuable money habits were adopted and it was an incredible learning opportunity. Families learned how to live and operate with very little income. They learned the importance of saving, separating wants from needs, and how to be resourceful. There are many names for the generation that lived during this time, so let's call them the Traditionalists.

The period from the end of World War II to the early 1970s was one of the greatest eras of economic expansion in world history. To put it quite literally, the US economy was booming. The unemployment rate was super low and there were tons of blue collar jobs. Credit cards were also introduced during this period. This was known as the Baby Boomer generation. They started accumulating large amounts of debt and bought things they didn't really need. The great money habits learned from the great depression were quickly forgotten. Many people were ignorant to the fact that the economy could slow down and turn into another recession.

Currently, millennials are the largest generation. We are currently between the ages of 21-37 (depends on what source you use). We have family and friends that are from both generations, so we are put in a unique position to where we can learn from both. We have witnessed both ends of the spectrum when it comes to money, frugality and being wasteful. BOTH of these can be a problem and cause stress as well as unhappiness. Us millennials can use this amazing opportunity to learn and create a better life for ourselves and those around us! Here is why I believe millennials will become the richest generation yet. This may only be slightly biased :)

We have unique money challenges

Massive Student Loan Debt:

As our generation is concerned, many of our parents didn't go to college. Shoot, many of our parents didn't have to go to college. As first generation college students, we weren't told what to look at college programs in terms of tuition prices, we were just told to pursue what makes you happy... If a 4 year college program costs 100,000 dollars and the average entry level position for your major is only 30,000 dollars, that is probably a problem. By researching jobs you can obtain with your future degree, you can factor how much you should actually pay for that degree. However, many of us millennials didn't know that and we are already out of college so we get to learn a valuable money lesson right out of the gate. We get to learn why debt is bad early in our lives. So good news is we still have a ton of time to do something about it.

Historically Low Wages / Competitive Workforce:

The average millennial is underemployed. We are getting expensive degrees and finding it hard to find a job which can fully utilize the degree. Many times this involves taking a pay cut. So mix low wages in with high student loan debt and it creates an even bigger problem. This is causing us not to save as much money as we'd like and being forced to pay thousands of dollars in interest for these loans.

Future Financial Security is Not Guaranteed:

Pension plans are rare now a days and with expenses such as health care inflating rapidly, social security income doesn't look like it will cut it. Us millennials aren't guaranteed an income later on in life so more of us are already starting to save for retirement. We can directly see the problems facing retirees today, struggling to make ends meet, so it's causing more awareness to the topic. Starting to save for retirement in our 20s and 30s is going to allow us to accumulate wealth much easier than previous generations because we are starting much earlier in our lives and taking it very seriously.

We want to live a different kind of lifestyle

Spend money on experiences, not things:

According to a recent study, 78% of us would rather spend money on experiences not things because it ultimately makes us happier than material things. Apparently this is unique to our generation. Since we are the largest generation of people in the US, our spending power will dictate how businesses operate. I believe this will cause a positive shift in our economy to remove all of the junk that's out there that truly doesn't make us happier. So not only do I believe we will become the wealthiest generation, I believe we will become the happiest generation as well.

Sharing experiences makes us happier:

Investing more in experiences makes us happier because we can share them. What do you think will have a bigger impact on an individuals happiness? Two friends buy a 40,000 luxurious vehicle together or two friends spend 40,000 on a 3 month adventure exploring europe? I vote the second. Those two friends will share that unique connection with them for the rest of their lives. Sharing experiences is one of the fundamental aspects of our happiness. Humans are connected creatures.

We are waiting to get married and have kids:

Millennials are known for waiting later in life to get married and have kids. I known many parents who got married and have had children when they are as young as 16 and they are wonderful parents. However, waiting longer to get married and have kids has been shown to help financially. With respect to marriage, divorce is incredibly expensive. Mostly between the legal fees and having your financial assets split in half. The divorce rate significantly drops if you wait a few years to get married. With respect to kids, kids are expensive, everyone knows that. Waiting a few more years in your life to get financially stable and create a little bit larger investment portfolio prior to having kids will positively impact your financial future.

We are changing the workplace:

Because there are so many jobs that can be done online/remote now, we as a generation have become super flexible in our careers. The cost of starting your own company has dramatically decreased. It is a common theme among us millennials, that it seems almost nobody likes the whole 9-5 lifestyle. We all want to have a purpose and make an impact directly to others. Due to the fact that many us of feel this way, it is creating an amazing opportunity for change in our world. Business models will change and life as we know it will become more efficient, as well as workers will be happier. With happy workers, productivity will go off the charts. Honestly, do some research into happiest places to work and look at how well the company is doing as a whole.

We have incredible investing opportunities

We have a long time for our money to grow:

With modern medicine, the average life expectancy in the US is at an all time high. A major reason for this is that we have found cures/treatments for major diseases. As our research in the medical field continues to flourish, I expect this number to keep increasing as the years go by.

We have access to high quality financial information online:

Us millennials grew up with the internet. Many of us use it every single day and whether we realize it or not, we are constantly learning. The financial game is changing. No longer do you have to go to an expensive financial adviser to get high quality financial information. Everything is online and alot of it is FREE! Having free high quality information creates an equal playing field for everyone. We can ALL be smart with money.

Thank you so much for your reading and if you found this at all valuable, drop an upvote :)

Sources:
https://www.transamericacenter.org/docs/default-source/resources/center-research/tcrs2014_factsheet_millennials.pdf
https://millennialmoney.com/the-millennial-generation/
http://eventbrite-s3.s3.amazonaws.com/marketing/Millennials_Research/Gen_PR_Final.pdf

Photo Credit of Millennials: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/6-ways-to-keep-millennial-employees-happy