The thing about studies, surveys and the numbers published and interpreted from their findings is that it’s all up for interpretation. As much as numbers don’t lie, sometimes people do, even if they perhaps don’t expressly set out to do so, but rather get carried away by the ideals they hold instead of representing their situation as it currently is in reality.
On the other hand all the participants in a survey such as that which got #HowDoYouSpend trending could very well have been totally honest about their spending habits, with absolutely no incentive to make any misrepresentations, in which case the findings make for some very interesting reading. Every indication is that people’s spending habits along the generational lines differ from the expectation and general sentiment.
Obviously one would have to consider factors such as the sample size of the subjects who participated in a study such as that which measures people’s attitudes to money and their approach to saving it to be more specific. However, if such as study is carried out by the likes of SwiftMoney, an instant payday loan provider which relies on the accuracy of such information, you best believe that the findings are as accurate as they can get!
It still doesn’t make them any less baffling though, particularly when someone like me tries to internalise them and compare them with my own situation closer to home. For one, I would have really bet money on the numbers pointing towards pensioners spending a little more freely than both the other generations (Generation Xers and Millennials), yet quite surprisingly it is indeed the Baby Boomers who are saving the most for – wait for it – retirement!
When I take a look at how things are playing out in my own family, including extended family, it’s the 65+ generation who have decided that now is the time to spend a good portion of the money they’ve worked so hard for all their lives on things like holidays and just making themselves happy. Interestingly though it’s the peeps from this same generation who are saving more than anybody else, but I can only attest that to the fact that Baby Boomers perhaps have more disposable income than anybody else, even in the case of those who are long into their retirement.
It has become a lot more difficult for the likes of the Millennials to establish the sort of financial stability Baby Boomers enjoyed and perhaps less so the Gen Xers, but considerably so as well. Putting away some money in the form of savings seems to be getting more and more difficult as the economically active generations transition from one to the next, which appears to be altering the general approach to money and saving depicted by members of each of these generations.
While a Generation Xer may visit the likes of https://swiftmoney.com/short-term-loans.php to get an instant short-term loan for what would be considered to be “practical” reasons, a Millennial may decide to do the same thing to spend the money on something like a holiday getaway which they deem to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity they simply cannot pass up on and maybe wait until they’re retired to take full advantage of!
