The Millennial Difference

Millennials, the largest age demogrཧaphic in U.S. history, are turning out to be distinctly different from the generations that preceded them, even when it comes to their finances♌.

The people born from 1981 to 1996 are more racially diverse, better educated, and more internet savvy than their elders. Their formative experiences include the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2008-2009 Great Recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic. They have lived through severe real estate and stock market fluctuations, and to this day they carry large student loan debt balances.

Unsurprisingly, their outlook and behaviors differ greatly from their elders as well. Millennials tend to be more value-oriented than previous generations. Social issues like sustainability influence their spending decisions.

Yet millennials, now aged 28 to 43, share many of the same 𒊎concerns that older generations have regarding their work and their ♕families.

Here are some of the ways that millennials’ exp🌃eriences have shaped their spending and saving habits. 

Millennial Wealth

Millennials have had relatively difficult financial experiences. The 2008 financial crisis, which struck when they were in their teens to late 20s, hit them especially hard: A 2019 paper found that the average millennial lost about 13% of their earnings during the Great Recession.

The average net worth of millennials continues to lag well behind that of their immediate predecessors in Gen X. Millennials made a substantial leap in 2024, adding 12.74% to their average net worth to reach an average of $333,096. Gen X gained 6.5% in 2024 for a total of $1,132,089.

A 2025 retirement readiness survey from Fidelity Investments found that, overall, 26% of millennial respondents feel they are falling behind with the savings they will need to retire. That's significantly fewer than Gen X respondents, at 45%.

Debt Burden

One reason why millennials are behind on saving for retirement is their debt load, which outpaces that of other generations.

The millennial debt cris💦is was fo𝕴unded on student loan debt and exacerbated by credit debt.

The average millennial student loan borrower still owed $40,438 in 2024. Millennials overall owed an average of $30,558 in non-mortgage debt, far higher than the $24,668 median across all generations.

Author and financial educator is conce༺rned that millennials considering college are not being adequately informed about long-term debt that has terms “that end up trapping people for 20 to 30 years after you take out the loan," she says. “Y🌟ou’re just sort of rushing these 17- to 18-year-olds into some of the biggest and most serious, most long-term financial relationships that they’ll ever have.”

“The continued rise in credit card delinquency rates is broad-based across area income and region, but particularly pronounced among millennials and those with auto loans or student loans,” Donghoon Lee, an economic research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said in a press release.

Spending Habits

Millennials have never quite shaken off a reputation for financial recklessness. It has been more than a decade since Time Magazine published the notorious cover story, “Millennials: The Me Me Me Generation.”

Since then, those teens and 20-somethings have experienced a fundamentally different workforce, h🃏ousing market, and financial ecosystem than any generation before them.

, a millennial founder of the financial education company Money & Mimosas, believes the stereotype is inaccurate. “The truth is that the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cost of living has greatly outpaced t🐠he increase in earnings. Since 2000👍, the price of goods has increased 67%, while earnings have increased a total of 7%, or a mere 0.3% per year since 2000,” she says.

The amount of money it takes for millennials to get an education, buy a house, and own a car is significantly higher than it was for their parent's generation. Millennials are paying 100% more on average for homes than the baby boomers did in the 1970s.

Where the Money Goes

Millennials spend an average of $85 a day, accounting for 28% of all daily consumer spending in the United States. This number is expected to climb as high as 35% over the next 15 years. Much like the generations before them, their top three spending categories are housing, healthcare, and insurance.

As the first generation raised on the internet, millennials lead the pack in online purchases. W🌸ith both convenience and price in mind, this generation uses online shopping to broaden their options and turns to reviews and testimonials when making a purchase.

Many millennials focus on purchasing sustainable, cruelty-free, or vegan items instead of opting for the lowest price or best rating. A 2020 study by the IBM Institute for Business Value found that 79% of millennials cite 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:sustainability as important to them.

“I make a conscious𝓀 effort to purchase products from brands and small businesses that align with my values🌊. I also extend this practice to my investment choices,” says Doe.

Investing Behaviors

Millennials are working to pay off the past and 🌠save for the future simultaneously.

In a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:2022 Investopedia study, 64% of millennials said they invest money regularly, with the most favorable form being crypto, One in three millennials said they were invested in cr⛦ypto, with the next most popular choice being stocks.

The same Investopedia survey found that most millennial investors are confident about their financial sophistication: 65% said they are doing an “above average” job managing their 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:portfolio.

Still, even amid✃ their financial confidence, millennials express wariness toward taking risks. For example, the same Investopedia survey found that 37%📖 of millennial investors would classify their portfolios as “lower-risk” investments.

Strategies for Saving and Investing More

“Setting and tracking financial goals can help you become more intentional, especially for m𓆏illennials who are looking to take the next step for major, expensive life milestones, like a wedding or purchasing their first home,” says , head of advice and planning at Wells Fargo.

When it comes to saving and investing, there are a few strategies to employ. As a rule of thumb, aspire to follow the 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:50/30/20 framework. This framework states that you should allot half of your paycheck to basic necessities like housing, utilities, monthly minimum payments, and groceries; 30% to things you want, such as clothing, subscriptions, and gym memberships, and the final 20% to sa🌠vings.

“Having money set aside for the unexpected provides both literal and psychological safety. If you don’t have money in an 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:emergency fund, don’t worry—you can start with any amount of money🧔,” Liersch says.

♐“For example, if you set aside $100 a month, in a few short months you may have more than most Americ൲ans have saved for an emergency, which is an enormous accomplishment! And if you did it for the year, you’d have well over $1,000, which can give you peace of mind that the next flat tire, electrical problem in your house, lost phone, or whatever else it might be won’t set you back too far, financially speaking.”

Many are turning to 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:high-yield savings accounts to offset the effects of inflation. These accounts function similarly to a standard savings account, but with significantly higher interest rates. 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:Roth individual re𒈔tirement accounts (Roth ♒IRAs) are a great option for longer-term saving for retirement.

For those offered a 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:401(k) package through their employer, they should aspire to maximize their contributions at least up to the level of any 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:employer match. Automatic contributions are one way to ensure🥃 tha𒐪t part of your earnings goes into savings every paycheck.

Future Outlook

Though life experiences and debt burdens have left many millennials stressed about the future, the 2022 Investopedia Financial Literacy Survey 🙈found them to be the most confident when it came to investing.

“The point of becoming financially competent and financially empowered is to be able to move your money in the way that you want,” Anat says. “And that can be to lavish yourself and your loved ones with time and privilege and comfort. It could also be to use your moꩵney in ways that are important to you in terms of changing the world. That’s what really drives me is when to get my head above water to go beyond survival, beyo꧒nd scarcity, and to be financially stable, but also financially free.”

The Bottom Line

Millennials once had a reputation for being reckless spenders, but there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. A serie💃s of shocks, economic and otherwise, have brought challenges to this generation that have given them a cautious and even anxious perspective.