Things vs. Experiences - Is it generational?

[disneysteve]

I got my daily Living Social email today and it was for the Philadelphia Whiskey Walk. I went to their website to check it out and this is the sponsoring company's tag line:

"Creating unique moments for the experience-craving generation."

So is today's younger generation, like the 20-30-year-olds, less focused on stuff? My wife and I are in our 50s and we are definitely more into experiences (which is why the Whiskey Walk caught my attention) but I've always tended to think of that as an age thing. My impression was that folks just starting out are more into stuff - first jobs, finally have some money, furnishing first apartments or houses, replacing hand me downs with their own things, etc.

But something like this event is clearly aimed at a younger demographic than my wife and I. Has the focus on acquiring stuff faded even for the younger folks?

[bigdaddybus]

I dont find things vs experiences a generational thing, I think it is simply a decision based on personal values.

My mom grew up poor, and I think that is the strongest contributor to making her an thing person.

I grew up a daycare kid with parents that were worked all the time. I think that was a strong influence on my love of experiences over things.

[Spiffster]

I have to admit, Im into stuff... but my wife is definitely more into experiences. She will happily drop $5k on a Sandals trip but is very reluctant to spend money on anything else. Im 37 and she is 35 so we dont really fall into the demographic in question. My family was very poor when I was a kid, and hers was relatively well off so that may have something to do with it.

I have read that millennials arent interested in car ownership at all... I think this is why ride-sharing has become so popular. This blows my mind as cars have always been my main vice. But this lends credence to the notion that they may be more interested in experiences than material things.

[rennigade]

Hmmm...not so sure. We're early 30's and definitely enjoy experiences more than things.

With that being said...I have plenty of friends who never have experiences and have a lot of things...even though they're broke.

I may be way off here but is it possible the 20 something folks have to focus on experiences due to the fact they are broke/strapped down with student loans and are having issues finding decent paying jobs?

I know the "american dream" of owning a home has absolutely faded with the younger generation...at least where I live. Im not sure if I would consider a house a "thing" per se...but it may set the tone.

[creditcardfree]

I've heard or read that millennial's are less into stuff. I also see it in my daughters but hard to say if that is because of how we have raised them. Although, I know my oldest daughter (almost 20) has specifically said she just doesn't need that much stuff when she was talking about her stuff in comparison to her peers.

[Nutria]

I know my oldest daughter (almost 20) has specifically said she just doesn't need that much stuff when she was talking about her stuff in comparison to her peers.

Implies that many of her peers are into things, and that she is the outlier.

[GoodSteward]

My wife and I are in our 50s and we are definitely more into experiences (which is why the Whiskey Walk caught my attention) but I've always tended to think of that as an age thing.

Whiskey Walk? All I can think of is a marathon where you get drunk off whiskey and see who can still walk. The one who walks the farthest wins?

I've heard or read that millennial's are less into stuff.

While I'm sure this might be the case with some I have a really hard time believing that. I always see people putting a lot of money into what they drive, what they wear, and what devices they have(upgrade yearly). There is a reason credit card debt is on the rise, and it isn't because of the fabulous interest they charge to borrow money. More people are leasing to be able to have newer cars. It just isn't what I see, but maybe I'm not seeing enough.

I enjoy some new stuff, but I am leaning more towards experiences. I understand my parents may not be able to travel in a near future, so I want to put more money and time into doing things with them for my kids sake. I cherish the memories of my grandparents and parents doing trips with us.

[HundredK]

In my experience being around a lot of millennials, I would say that they're just as into things as any generation, but the big difference is that they have mommy and daddy still footing the bill for all their things, and so they use their own disposable income to pay for experiences (or have mom and dad pay for those as well).

[rennigade]

While I'm sure this might be the case with some I have a really hard time believing that. I always see people putting a lot of money into what they drive, what they wear, and what devices they have(upgrade yearly).

Do you ever stop and ask those people how much they make and what their expenses are?

Its like the saying goes...dont judge a book by its cover.

[GoodSteward]

Do you ever stop and ask those people how much they make and what their expenses are?

Its like the saying goes...dont judge a book by its cover.

The people that come to mind are the ones I work around. Such as Warehouse workers making 10 or less an hour. Front office people making 30s a year driving new cars. I don't know many people first hand that make what I do(because I have two incomes) and it isn't a massive amount by any means. I'm not six figures.

We judge "most" "many" "some" "nobody" in our statements on here based on the people we are around. It's the perspective we have. I live in a smaller town (11k population I believe) and we are not a suburb of a big city. I see new cars all over, and even my main boss from NJ that was down this week commented on how many dealerships we have around here. Factor that in along with we are a LCOL area which computes to lower avg incomes, it isn't hard for someone like me to see the way I do. If you live in a HCOL area most likely the incomes are higher and I assume that means the overall perspective of things are also different.

[james.hendrickson]

This is an excellent topic.

Part of the reason why net worths in America are so low is the population in general values "experiences" more than financial security. So, if Joe and Jane average have an "extra" $2,000, they chose a week vacation to a local spot.

Let us say this becomes a habit, and they do it 4 or 5 times. That totals to $10,000.

There are tremendous opportunity costs to this kind of behavior. The $10,000 spent on vacations can never be recouped. But $10,000 can be a downpayment on a house, a very nice stock position, or the seed for some business capital. Over time, that $10,000 can grow to $20,000 or even $30,000 depending on how long and how wisely that money is invested.

But it isn't the dollars themselves that matter, what matters is that dollars are a form of capital.

In the US, capital is fully convertible. Financial capital converts into personal capital, personal capital converts into political capital and political capital converts into financial capital.

I hear conversations like this all the time. I want to be financially secure and own my own home, but I am planning on taking a vacation. Or, xyz politician is doing all this bad stuff, but hey it's cool because I am going to drive to this cool vacation spot and drop $500 on a "nice experience". People choose to live with a suboptimal situation in order to please themselves. They don't get it that having money gives you ALL forms of capital.

In the USA you still have opportunities, choices, and freedom. Most simply don't recognize how good their lives could actually be or they choose to value experiences rather than other values. The end result is often poverty and dependence on imperfect political situations.

[Singuy]

Millennials are into both...and since they can't afford to have both...well they buy both anyways.

Experiences in my view is a luxury. Stuff is less of a luxury.

I state this because you can always resell stuff, but you can never resell experience.

Take a car for example..it can be stuff and an experience.

A brand new car gives you that experience of a new car..and that feeling of accomplishment(yay I can finally get a new car and not some hand me down broken beater!). That's a luxury item...the experience part. An old car is stuff..you can resell it if you don't want it or say you must do it for food. You lose very little equity in an old car vs the new car.

The depreciation between what you pay and what you can resell on any "stuff" is considered experience in my book.

Trips have the most depreciation..since you can't resell any of it.

This is a cold-hearted way of looking at it (I am giving memories a value of 0)...but thinking about anything in this perspective can also make you wealthy.

But of course, wealth isn't everything. Balance of memories and wealth seeking is key.

[GoodSteward]

But of course, wealth isn't everything. Balance of memories and wealth seeking is key.

You get one chance here on this Earth, and just building up money isn't the purpose of being here. Even if you can't pass down a lot of money to your children, you can never pass down too many great experiences that teach them something, help them learn the value of friendship or family, and give them something to cherish. I get a great feeling when I think back to the trips I had with my grandparents as a kid. They didn't leave me any money, but I don't care. I have a job for that. They left me wonderful experiences.

As a parent I much more cherish watching my child be happy and have fun instead of giving them a gift and going back to doing my own thing. I think we have a higher rate of occurrences of dysfunctional kids and families because people are too into things and not experiences, at least not as a family.

[phantom]

I'm hesitant to believe much of anything is a generational thing, since generations are weird arbitrary groups of people born within a 20 year stretch. I'm in my early 30's making me the same generation as people who are just finishing high school. My husband is in his late 30's, making him the same generation as people who will be hitting retirement age in a few years. Our experiences growing up are a lot more similar to each other's than to the people's on the other sides of our generations.

I don't have a strong preference for things verses experiences, but my desire for more things has definitely decreased as I've gotten older an the number of things I already have has increased.

My husband would totally be into a whiskey walk, but that's mostly because he likes whiskey. He seems to like the experience of getting together with friends and enjoying a new bottle as much as he likes saving empty whiskey bottles that look cool.

[MonkeyMama]

I think it's somewhat generational and technology driven. For me, paring the stuff down came with age, but was probably accelerated by being able to keep the vast majority of my belongings (books, music, financial records) on small/portable electronic devices. For our kids, why invest in a car at 16 when you can just take an uber or a zip car? I Can certainly see the appeal of the car sharing model, and I'm 40. But I guess I also live in the middle of all the tech innovation.