A record number of young adults in the US are currently living at home, and all that saved rent is sparking a luxury boom.
Source: Young Adults Living at Home in the US Are Fueling a Luxury Boom
Since the onset of the pandemic, young millennials are living with their parents at rates not seen since 1972, and they seem to be in no rush to move out.
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But for many of their slightly older millennial counterparts, living at home means saving money for a down payment for their own place, waiting out high mortgage rates and sky-high housing prices, and prioritizing spending on experiences like vacations and concerts rather than material goods.
Millennials Aren’t Ashamed to Live at Home. They’re Still Adults. (businessinsider.com)
She’s also able to spend more on experiences, like traveling to Hawaii three times a year.
Millennials Aren’t Ashamed to Live at Home. They’re Still Adults. (businessinsider.com)
and:
The ability to live at home while working full time as a registered dietitian at an acute-care hospital, where she makes about $65,000 annually, has also helped her to afford to travel the world, with stops in Ecuador, Portugal, and Turks and Caicos since mid-2021.
Looks like the younger generation has chosen parent-subsidized housing over independent living so they can spend more on goods and experiences.
This may be an entirely rational choice too. I over saved for retirement but at the expense of missing many life experiences. See here and here for more about over saving for retirement.
My parents were teens during the Great Depression. I grew up with their Great Depression values. Repair, re-use everything, do-it-yourself and save excessively and avoid debt. I worked from age 10 onward and was required to save at least 50% of my earnings for future expenses, like college (I paid 100% of my own college tuition, fees and books.) Basically today’s FIRE movement but decades ahead of its time!
I continued that as an adult, saving excessively – and avoiding spending.
The reasons for those values, though, were probably mostly gone by the time I was a teen – but they were the only values I knew.
I saved for a future that got derailed. In 2020, I had 3 1/2 trips booked – my first international trip. Of course, that didn’t happen. Plus, as we get older, health issues may impact our ability to engage in various activities. Today, ClimateCrisis proponents are pushing to ban future travel (even though most of them, it seems, have engaged in excessive travels of their own – it’s fine for them but not for you – see here and here for examples.)
Per the links above on retirement – we miss important life experiences that can impact our careers – and experiences that may not be possible as we get older.
