Everyday, Millennials are in the news where Baby Boomers and Gen X criticize their habits, saying they’re making the wrong decision or impacting society in a negative form. Most of those claims are complete and utter fiction made up by the media because there’s nothing to talk about in the news (no, we don’t think avocados can solve all our problems). However, new research might actually point to a mistake millennials are making, and it could be detrimental to our futures.
Millennials are investing their money in the wrong ways. According to Bankrate.com, millennials prefer to save their money via cash or savings accounts, rather than in investments in stocks. Who can blame them, as they grew up in the 2008 stock market crash and housing bubble that left many parents of this generation unemployed? Most millennials’ savings are only accruing a 1% return on investment, when that number could be much higher.
Additionally, Bankrates.com says that millennials want to retire by age 61, yet the median savings for people who fall in the generation have only $19,000 saved up so far… and that’s only counting the ones that have any savings whatsoever. The more realistic retirement age would be 72, and who knows what the economy will look like by that time?
While I’m not trying to bash millennials (hey, I’m a millennial myself) I do want to start a wave of extra savings and investments in order for our generation to have a sound future. Tech stocks are all the rage right now, so maybe we should start there (just not Facebook).
