Many millennials are traveling globally instead of pursuing careers. Is that foolish? No.

This is not irresponsible – it is wise if you can afford it:

But many of those travel influencers aren’t just encouraging their followers to come along virtually on their trips. One particular trend has them motivating other young people to spend big on travel while they’re still young — at the expense of their older selves’ financial security.

The phrase on repeat is: “I’ll make my money back, but I’ll never be in my 20s and traveling to [location] again.” They claim that the once-in-a-lifetime experiences far outweigh the costs.

While it may seem irresponsible, experts say travel and financial stability don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Here’s how to make it work whether you’re decades or days away from retirement.

Source: When in Rome: Millennials are opting to ‘maximize their 20s’ while minimizing their savings — but could it leave them living a Spartan life in their later years?

1. If you can do so travel when young to take advantage of good health and fitness, the ability to make friends more easily while traveling, and the ability to consider travel options that may not work when you are older.
2. Travel when young (including study abroad options) to develop essential global skills.
3. Do not postpone forever to a future that may never come – due to personal health issues, you may die in car crash, WW 3 may happen, public health will prohibit travel, or climate extremists get their way to stop all air travel.
4. Finally, recent research finds that those who are professionally employed (in fact, most college graduates) may end up over saving for retirement and it may be wise for them to prioritize life experiences when young.

The reality for today’s young is bright compared to the past.

I graduated into a tough job market: In 1980, inflation was 13.5%, mortgage rates were 11.5%, and unemployment was 7.2%. And the recession had not yet started.

This was the peak year for the largest new young worker cohort in history, as a percent of the population (the fertility rate peaked at almost 4 in 1960 and this peak wave was entering the job market around 1980 +/-.)

Competition for jobs was fierce – taking six months or a year to travel would be seen then as a negative.

Today, unemployment is 3.4% and while we have high inflation, it’s about 6-7% currently, half of what it was in 1980. There are numerous stories online of graduates (in the right fields) surprised by multiple job offers. This is the “new normal” for the foreseeable future due to our now permanent labor shortage caused by the fertility rate collapse.

Today is different than the past – don’t apply 1980 conventional wisdom to the 2020s.

Instead, go do it.