Surely, you’ve heard that Millennials get a bad reputation with stereotypes such as being entitled, self-centered, spoiled, and lazy. However, all those stereotypical statements fail to acknowledge that Millennials as a whole generation include incredibly bright and ambitious people.
Despite their reputation for laziness, most of them work hard and feel strongly about wanting their work to be meaningful and bring huge returns. In fact, the self-centered accusation couldn’t be more wrong as studies show that Millennials tend to invest in organizations and causes that prioritize the greater good more than any other previous generation before them. All those assumptions have been born by the tension created between the generations due to the way things used to be and the way Millennials are doing them.
Here’s what motivates Millennials when it comes to finances, what are their priorities when choosing investments, and how their saving and investing habits differ from older generations:
Millennials want to build wealth by their 30’s
It isn’t surprising that retirement saving isn’t a top priority for Millennials as they are too busy building wealth by the time they reach their 30’s. in fact, studies show that generally, Millennials start saving for retirement at around the age of 36 years old. One-click access to online banking is a given for this generation since they want to extend their investment accounts to a point where they will reach wealthy.
So, why are Millennials so wealth-focused compared with the previous generations? The answer lays in the fact that younger people are aware of the certain advantages they have ahead of previous generations such as being better educated and having access to all technological advancements. While their parents perceived financial success as keeping a job for the long-term, climbing the corporate ladder, saving a satisfying amount of money, and retiring, Millennials have a completely different perspective.
They look up to leaders and business owners who had innovative ideas and build wealth around them. So, success is less about earning a decent wage and more about working for themselves after building their dream business.
They prefer social impact investing
This generation expresses a deep desire to change the world they live in for the good. Millennials are more connected and aware of global concerns than any other previous generation was. They have access to technology and internet, they have the freedom to travel more and see for themselves, thus they are more aware of what is happening around the world that affects our environment and the humanity.
Therefore, those young investors are not only looking for financial returns that will make them have financial stability, but they also want to put their investments to work for the public good. Since they are more concerned with charitable giving, they approach their time and financial investments with an eye toward the social impact investing that serves the greatest good. The pursuit of social responsibility has led to numerous young leaders and entrepreneurs in the business world who started or invested in sustainable businesses or charitable projects.
They choose alternative investment methods
Millennials are the responsible generation for bringing alternative investment methods into the mainstream. Since Millennials do almost everything different than the previous generations, it isn’t surprising that they prefer alternative investment methods instead of traditional ones. They are the generation who has had access to the internet and technological advancements from very young ages.
Their strong connection with technology and connectivity, together with their entrepreneurial spirit thirsty for success, made them invest in alternative methods such as forex trading or the stock market. For example, Millennials represent more than half of all online forex traders. The real-time access to information helps them easily copy the trading activity of an experienced trader and find a low spread forex broker that offers the most favorable conditions.
They are more cautious with their money
There is no doubt that another investing habit of the Millennials is being more cautious with their money. The world we live in today is a fast-changing one meaning that they face more instability than previous generations did. Market trends change, so does consumer behavior, currency values change, political situations become more unstable, and the world is slowly running out of natural resources. Apart from that, they may recall memories of the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 when their loved ones lost jobs and went bankrupt. So, why wouldn’t they put the risk in perspective when it comes to how they invest?
They explore and embrace diversity
Compared with their parents, Millennials don’t really settle down with working for the same company until they retire. Their thirst for success and wealth makes them more open to diversity. It may all come down to the fact that they are better informed and educated about a variety of options they have, but they also nurture a free spirit that makes them look for the best investment option by testing each of the ones available.
Previous generations may accuse them once again for being indecisive, but they are smart when it comes to budding fields. Rather than putting their money solely toward traditional investments, they are always exploring new opportunities. Therefore, this generation is the one that leads to the opening of a new world of options.
By relying on ideologies like technology, social responsibility, and thirst for success, Millennials are rapidly changing the investment market with their unique saving and investing habits. Specialists believe that Millennials are going to teach their children the same ethics and values that they have and in the modern world we live in, their children are more likely to adopt those habits than Millennials did from their parents.
Last Updated on February 3, 2021.
