Media To Thrifty Millennials: SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED THAT THERE HAD BEEN A NUMBER OF
HEADLINES IN THE MAINSTREAM PRESS, AND PRINT
PUBLICATIONS, THAT LIKE TO PLACE THE BLAME ON MILLENNIAL'S
FOR A NUMBER OF ECONOMIC ISSUES, AND WHEN I SAY ECONOMIC ISSUES
I'M SPECIFICALLY TALKING ABOUT RETAILERS THAT ARE SHUTTING
DOWN, OR CERTAIN RESTAURANTS THAT ARE LOSING BUSINESS.
IT JUST SEEMS LIKE MILLENNIAL'S ARE SPENDING THEIR MONEY
LIKE GENERATIONS BEFORE THEM, AND SO AS A RESULT, WE NEED
TO BLAME THEM FOR KILLING EVERYTHING.
WELL, JUST TO GIVE YOU AN EXAMPLE OF THESE OUTRAGEOUS
ñ OF THESE RIDICULOUS HEADLINES, AND THIS WAS ACTUALLY
TREATED AS A LIST BY BRIAN SHEFFIELD, I DON'T KNOW WHO
HE IS BUT I LOVE THIS LIST.
THESE ARE ALL HEADLINES;
MILLENNIAL'S ARE KILLING THE GOLF INDUSTRY.
THE NEW YORK POST, MILLENNIAL'S ARE KILLING THE MOVIE BUSINESS.
FORBES, WILL THE MILLENNIAL GENERATION KILL HOME DEPOT?
YES.
KP CC, WHICH I LIKE, TAKE TWO, ARE MILLENNIAL'S KILLING
THE RUNNING TREND?
YES THEY ARE.
THIS ONE IS INSANE, GOTHAM APPARENTLY HAS A HEADLINE THAT
SAID, PROMISCUOUS, MILLENNIAL'S ARE KILLING MCDONALD'S.
OUR MILLENNIAL'S KILLING THE CAR INDUSTRY?
ON PURPOSE.
HERE'S HOW MILLENNIAL'S HAVE KILLED CROWDFUNDING ñ
CROWDFUNDING.
OUR MILLENNIAL'S KILLING CREDIT?
THAT'S ANOTHER ONE.
YES, WE ARE DOING IT ON PURPOSE BECAUSE WE WANT AVOCADO TOAST.
I DO.
I LOVE AVOCADOS AND TOAST, BUT HAVE NEVER REALLY ORDERED
IT BECAUSE IT FEELS SO STUPID.
WHY?
BECAUSE IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE TO ME TO GET AVOCADO TOAST.
TOAST HAS BUTTER ON IT.
I DON'T KNOW, I LOVE AVOCADOS WITH A SPOON.
YES, THE ANSWER IS THAT WE WOULD RATHER LEAVE ñ
WE WOULD RATHER SPLURGE ON THINGS THAT ARE EMPIRICALLY
LESS EXPENSIVE THAN HOUSES, AND GOLFING.
THAT'S ANOTHER ISSUE, IF YOU GUYS NOTICE, MAJOR RETAILERS
LIKE MACY'S, SEARS, ALTHOUGH STUDIES THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND
FOR A REALLY LONG TIME, ARE LOSING BUSINESS, AND THEIR STOCK
PRICES ARE PLUMMETING.
MILLENNIAL'S ARE ALSO MUCH LESS LIKELY TO INVEST IN THE
STOCK MARKET, AND SO IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE HOW
THESE STORIES ARE BEING COVERED, BECAUSE ñ LOOK, I THINK IT'S
A SYMPTOM OF THE ECONOMY THAT WE HAVE SET UP, WHICH TELLS PEOPLE
OVER AND OVER AGAIN, SPEND, SPEND, GO OUT AND SPEND YOUR
MONEY, STIMULATE THE ECONOMY, YOU NEED TO SPEND YOUR MONEY.
AND SO, ECONOMIC GROWTH IS VERY RELIANT ON THAT TYPE OF
ACTIVITY, AND OBVIOUSLY, FOR ANYONE WHO HAS BEEN PAYING
ATTENTION, YOU KNOW, MILLENNIAL'S GREW UP IN A
TIME WHEN THE RECESSION WAS A HUGE REALITY.
THEY SAW THEIR FAMILIES SUFFER AS A RESULT OF THAT, THEY
HAVE PERSONALLY SUFFERED AS A RESULT OF THAT, DUE TO
UNDEREMPLOYMENT OR UNEMPLOYMENT.
THEY ARE ALSO DEALING WITH STUDENT LOAN DEBT, TO THE
TUNE OF AN AVERAGE $30,000 PER PERSON.
THESE ALL PLAY A ROLE, SO WHEN OUR ELDERS ASKED THE
QUESTION, WHY ARE THEY BUYING HOMES?
I HAD A HOME.
YEAH, BUYING A HOME IS OBVIOUSLY VERY DIFFICULT IN THIS CURRENT
CLIMATE, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER THE FACT THAT OUR WAGES
HAVEN'T KEPT UP WITH INFLATION, WE DO HAVE MORE DEBT THAN
PREVIOUS GENERATIONS, AND WHEN WE DO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF
DISPOSABLE INCOME, WHEN WE DO WANT TO SPEND SOME MONEY, WE
DON'T WANT TO GO TO APPLEBEES.
WE DON'T WANT TO GO TO TGI FRIDAYS.
FOR OTHER REASONS, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THAT
DISPOSABLE INCOME IS FINITE, AND IT IS OBVIOUSLY SO
PRECIOUS, AND SO IF YOU ARE GOING TO GO OUT TO EAT YOU
WANT IT TO BE A SPECIAL EXPERIENCE, RIGHT?
SO THAT'S ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS MISUNDERSTANDING
BETWEEN GENERATIONS.
AND, WHAT YOU JUST SAID IS NOT THAT THE MILLENNIAL'S ARE
KILLING ñ YEAH, MAYBE WE ARE KILLING APPLEBEES, BUT WE
ARE ALSO FUNDING CLEAN FOOD.
WE ARE FUNDING THE EXPERIENCES THAT HAPPEN WHEN YOU DO
SPLURGE ON THESE INDUSTRIES.
IT'S NOT THAT PEOPLE AREN'T BUYING STUFF, PEOPLE ARE
BUYING STUFF, IT'S JUST THAT THE TASTES HAVE CHANGED, AND
THAT IS A CIRCULAR ARGUMENT, BECAUSE TIMES CHANGE, AND
YOU ARE BLAMING THAT, ESSENTIALLY.
THAT'S LIKE SAYING THE GREATEST GENERATION KILLED THE TELEGRAPH.
THAT IS A REALLY GOOD POINT.
TASTES ARE CHANGING, AND I THINK ONE OF THE BIGGEST TRENDS THAT
YOU NOTICE WITH YOUNGER GENERATIONS IS THIS DESIRE
TO SPEND MONEY ON EXPERIENCES VERSUS MATERIAL THINGS.
SO, BACK IN THE DAY, THE WHITE PICKET FENCE, THE HOME, THE
FANCY CARS, THE BIG-SCREEN TVS, THOSE ARE THINGS THAT
APPEAL TO PEOPLE.
AND THEY DO STILL APPEAL TO SOME MILLENNIAL'S, BUT I THINK
ALSO THAT MILLENNIAL'S REALLY APPRECIATE LIFE
EXPERIENCES, AND THEY WOULD RATHER SPEND MONEY ON THAT,
WHETHER IT IS TRAVEL, OR A HOBBY, THINGS LIKE THAT.
IT'S GENERATIONAL, AND GENERATIONS ARE ALWAYS DIFFERENT
THAN EACH OTHER, AND THERE IS A GENERATION THAT WAS AT THEIR
FREE, YOU KNOW, FOREBEARS, AND SAY, YOU GUYS WORK YOUR
BUNS OFF UNTIL RETIREMENT, AND DID YOU GIVE YOURSELF THE
OPPORTUNITY TO ENJOY LIFE?
IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE IT, AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS, OUR
KIDS WILL SAY, I CAN'T BELIEVE OUR PARENTS NEVER BOUGHT A
HOUSE, SO WHEN THEY RETIRED AND HAD NO INCOME THEY DIDN'T
OWN A HOUSE, SO THEY COULD NOT KEEP PAYING FOR THE HOUSE
BECAUSE THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY SAVINGS OR ANYTHING.
I GUESS THERE IS PROBLEMS WITH THE MILLENNIAL LIFESTYLE
THAT DOESN'T SAVE MONEY.
WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO RETIRE, AND IF YOU DON'T OWN YOUR
HOUSE OUTRIGHT, THAT IS GOING TO BE A PROBLEM.
AND ALSO, LET ME GIVE YOU A STEP THAT I THINK IS IMPORTANT, AND I
WANT YOU TO JUMP IN, KIM; 31% OF YOUNG MILLENNIAL'S, AGES 18 TO
24, AND 33% OF OLDER MILLENNIAL'S, AGES 25 TO 34,
DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY IN THEIR SAVINGS ACCOUNT.
SO MAYBE THAT'S WHY THEY AREN'T BUYING HOMES, AND IT'S NOT
BECAUSE THEY ARE SPENDING ALL THEIR MONEY ON AVOCADO
TOAST, IT IS BECAUSE THEY ARE, ON AVERAGE, MAKING WAY LESS
THAN THE GENERATION BEFORE THEM, AND SIMULTANEOUSLY DEALING
WITH MORE DEBT, YOU KNOW, IN THE FORM OF STUDENT LOAN DEBT.
RIGHT, I WAS GOING TO SAY, COULD IT BE THAT WE ARE DEALING WITH
FINANCIAL DECISIONS MADE BY A PRIOR GENERATION, MORE FOCUSED
ON A SHORT TERM, AND THAT HAS AN EFFECT, ON TOP OF CHANGING
TASTES, OR CHANGING CLIMATES, WHICH IS INEVITABLE, NO MATTER
WHAT THE FINANCIAL SITUATION WAS DURING A FORMIDABLE PART OF
YOUR LIFE, OR A PART WHERE YOU COULD BE EARNING MONEY OR
BE SEVERELY UNDEREMPLOYED.
I STILL WANT TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO ALL THAT STUFF THOUGH.
I WANT TO OWN A HOUSE.
YEAH, WE ALL DO.
BUT THEN I HAVE TO TAKE A JOB WHERE I STOP, JUST, LIKE,
WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES EVERY DAY, AND COMPLAINING ABOUT
HOW PEOPLE DON'T LIKE MILLENNIAL.
YEAH, IT'S, LOOK, IT'S NOT AN EASY THING TO DO,
ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN A MAJOR CITY.
AND LOOK, I THINK MILLENNIAL'S ALSO LIKE BEING MOBILE, AND
LIKE THE ABILITY TO MOVE AROUND, AND WHEN YOU OWN A HOME YOU
ARE KIND OF STUCK IN THE PLACE THAT YOU BOUGHT THE HOME IN.
RIGHT, IN THE MEANTIME, PEOPLE STILL OWN HOMES.
THE DIFFERENCE IS, IF WE ARE NOT BUYING THEM, THE SAME PEOPLE OWN
THEM, AND THEN THERE ARE INDUSTRIES THAT SPRING UP AROUND
RENTING HOUSES, AND NOW COMPANIES ARE SPRINGING UP THAT
OWN A BUNCH OF HOUSES, AND THAT'S LIKE, IN THE WAKE OF THE
HOUSING CRASH, THERE WERE THESE GIANT FUNDS THAT WENT AND BOUGHT
UP A TON OF HOUSES, AND DEVELOPMENTS.
TIME WILL TELL WHETHER WE ARE MAKING REALLY BAD DECISIONS,
OR WHETHER WE ARE JUST CHANGING HOW THE ECONOMY LOOKS.
WE ARE JUST ALSO IN A HOUSING CRISIS RIGHT NOW,
ESPECIALLY LOS ANGELES, BUT ESPECIALLY THE BAY AREA.
A LOT OF METROPOLISES ARE HAVING A LOT OF UNREASONABLY
UNATTAINABLE PRICES FOR BUYING ñ EVEN RENTING.
RENTING, YES.
AND PART OF WHAT THIS IS POINTING OUT, ALBEIT VERY
QUICKLY WITH ALL THE HEADLINES, IS THAT, WE HAVE SHORT-TERM
GOALS ALL THE TIME, AND WHAT THAT DOES, SPECIFICALLY WITH
COMPANIES LIKE AIR BNB, IS MAKE THE OWNERS OF AN AIR BNB
APARTMENT SAY, WHAT AM I GOING TO DO, OFFER A REALISTIC,
AFFORDABLE RENT FOR A LONG-TERM TENANT, OR MY GOING TO
CHARGE A BUNCH OF SHORT TERM TENANTS MORE MONEY DAY BY
DAY AND MAKE MORE MONEY?
AND THE ANSWER IN THAT SITUATION IS, THE OWNER IS GOING TO SAY,
I'M WANT TO MAKE $5000 THIS MONTH OFF AIRBNB TENANTS, I'M
NOT GOING TO CHARGE THREE GRAND FOR THE APARTMENT WHERE
SOMEBODY IS GOING TO BE THERE ALL THE TIME.
IT'S CRAZY.

Media To Thrifty Millennials: SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

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