Oddbean new post about login | logout When I talk to younger folks they say they don't trust the government to be able to provide a pension when they retire. At the same time most of them think saving money is pointless and they squander most of their income in short term gratification. Why aren't they preparing for the future then? Why has this hedonism and nihilism taken over the minds of our youth? Our parents lived a frugal life, worked hard and saved as much as they could to be able to provide for their children, haven't they learned anything from them? It's depressing to see.
My guess is there’s not much left after necessary expenses and they don’t see the point of saving a tiny bit if it does not amount to much later.
tiny is better than nothing. saving and investing compounds over time. few understand this.
Saving, nah, inflation consumes it. Investing, now we're talking, though the issue there with said youth is that they're not educated about it most likely, let alone be educated to have critical thinking.
Saving the govt money when you don't trust the govt makes little sense, so it's understandable. Saving in bitcoin on the other hand...
Imo it has to do with irrational high real estate prices (potentially depending where you life). Back then you built or bought a house for your family with basically a 2 years salary (paid off in idk 10 years). Today most people likely never will be able to afford one with their salary. So the big thing to buy is off the table for most people. Fiat money will continue to lose value, so fck it, why save it? I would see it the same way, wasn't it for Bitcoin. It finally gives a reason to save for the future.
I agree that the real estate market is fucked up and the "solutions" politicians are proposing just make things worse. Even if you can't afford a house don't you want to have some safety net (a couple months' expenses in cash for instance) in case something happens or you want to switch jobs?