We recently brought you the alarming statistic that almost six in 10 Americans don’t have enough savings to cover a $500 to $1,000 unplanned expense. Retirement analysts deem the lack of accessible savings a “persistent American problem” and urge us to get our shit together. Weed is expensive, though.
Welp, a new study conducted on behalf of the investing app Acorns, delved into the spending habits of millennials that could explain this lack of financial padding. The study, which looked at the spending habits of more than 1,900 Millennials (18 to 35 years old), found that nearly half of Millennials have spent more money on coffee than on retirement investing.
According to VICE,
“A staggering 44 percent of female Millennials aged 18-35 spent more on their morning fix than they did putting money aside this year,” Acorns told MUNCHIES. “What’s more is that this number is almost 10 percent higher than the number of Millennial males with the same habit in the same time frame. This evens out to about 41 percent of all users surveyed.”
This was also corroborated by the research, which found that 41 percent of older Millennials, age 24 to 35, predict that they won’t be “financially secure enough to retire until they are older than 65.” Yikes.
I’m no cultural scientist, but I do have two eyes and an IQ at or above the high school level, and it’s evident that people don’t think about having a nest egg when they’re senior citizens because we live in a world void of patience, expedited by technology. Not to be that bah-hum-bug old timer, but its true. You want a date? Swipe right. Something to eat? You can order without even having to speak to anyone. Everything you think you want, you can have, with no delay. That mentality isn’t conducive to planning for when your balls are dragging on the floor.
[h/t Vice]