Why Gen Z Thinks the Future Is Brighter Than Everyone Else

What is discussed, and when

1. 15:00 – 15:50: Millionaire Mission

Notable quotes from "Why Gen Z Thinks the Future Is Brighter Than Everyone Else"

• Kind of emotional thinking about some of the reviews I see on Amazon for Millionaire Mission because you guys have talked about how I'm changing your life. That's exactly what…

  about Millionaire Mission · at 15:12

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• Bren — Person · 1 mention

Books & papers

• Millionaire Mission — Book · 1 mention · first at 15:16

Companies & orgs

• Money Guy — Company · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

0:00 generational trends. Where do you stack up? Bren, I am so excited about this because we know that different generations think about money differently. It's interesting to see how those threads of what's possible and what's difficult and what's not difficult tend to change through time depending on what generation you're coming up in. Now look, despite what the comment section tells you, I am actually a proud Gen Xer. And we all know that as a Gen Xer, I drink out of garden hoses out in the backyard primarily cuz our parents made us stay outside all day. We're the last generation that had one foot into analog and then we got to to watch this transition into digital and even beyond.

0:43 But it is one of those things where I think there's an American promise that's been, you know, we've always kind of considered this and I I think this is an American concept is that we want our kids to be more successful than we were.

0:56 Want them to have a better opportunity than we had when we were Don't you feel like that's kind of been a promise or a desire and since the beginning of time?

1:03 So, and and I think you could actually talk about and and put that in terms of generational wealth of what you hope for for the coming generation. But I I got to tell you, I think that there's because and that's what we're going to get to today. There's been groups out there, you know, Yuggov and and survey results where it says maybe things aren't as rosy as they've been in for prior generations.

1:27 Yeah. Yuggov did a fantastic study around general generational wealth and what different generations thought. And there were a few really interesting questions that they posed. And here was the first one. You go said, "Do you think that earning generational wealth is more or less possible to Americans born after 2000 than it used to be?" Meaning if you were born in the ' 50s, '60s,7s, '8s, 90s, building generational wealth, wealth that can not only provide for your lifetime, but you can also pass on to the next generation. Is it more or less difficult for folks that have been born in the last 25 years? And I think the the responses were kind of interesting. Well, there's it's twofold in the fact that I think general population what you're going to see is a little bit of pessimism in there is that man, this there's not been a harder time and it's understandable, you know, with housing and some of the other things

2:18 that we've the inflation period that we went through. Um, it is understandable that there's this little like cloud over the generations. But here's the bright spot and that's what we're going to compare and contrast is the general population versus Gen Z. And look, that's my daughter. My my oldest daughter is Gen Z and um and you know she's in her senior year of college and and I kind of I I see this even in her when I think about this optimism that's is a kernel of optim op optimism that that really is a stark difference from the general population. So when you're looking at these survey results the dark blue is a general population and the light blue baby blue is Gen Z. And what you can see is the dark blue tends to be weighted just like you said towards the pessimism that 23% of general uh population says that it's much less possible to build generational wealth than it used to be. And then another 26%

3:11 said that it's somewhat less possible. So half of the general population is saying man it's not as easy as it once was. It's getting more difficult. But the folks in your daughter's generation the Jenzers they tend to skew on the other side. You can see that 25% of Jenzers said that it's somewhat more possible than it used to be to build generational wealth. And a whopping 30% of Jenzers said it is much more possible. And so I'm curious and Brian, we didn't talk about this. Why? Like what do you think it is that's driving that?

3:43 Well, I think that because we are in one of those um I was thinking about we didn't even talk about this in the show meeting, so you're I'm out here.

3:49 I don't know where this wilderness. Y'all never know what I'm going to say. But I do think we are at one of those inflection points with technology is about to do some big changes. And I think that this generation because I I felt this and I kind of resembled this generation in the fact that I was there when I remember it was college that the internet kind of took off

4:08 and um because I went from the period where I was literally registering for classes where you'd go into this huge room, fill out scantron sheets, dump them into the side of the wall, then go wait for them to call your name and find out if they got it to by the senior year I was logging in through the modem. Yes. It sounded like war games where it's like you know all the other game you know sounds but you would you would use some DOS prompts and then you'd get into the then you'd register on that green screen for your classes right from your house if you had a computer at the house. So, um, it's amaz and I think that's what's going on with the younger generation, too, is that they feel that they're at the beginning of something.

4:48 And you know what happens when you feel like you're on the front row seat and you're the youngest and probably have the most opportunity, the most knowledge on something is you feel like you might be able to turn this into a benefit for yourself.

4:58 Well, I love it. One of the things that the that you gov did with this survey is they didn't just say like how likely or how unlikely it is. They asked the same group of people, hey, if you had to choose one, and you can only choose a single one, which of these paths would you think is the best way to achieve generational wealth? So, if it's something you're going to do, how are you going to pursue that? Or if you had to go in one direction to try to create that kind of wealth, what would you do? And again, I thought this was really, really interesting. And I think that the generations were a little more aligned perhaps than I thought. But the the two highest responses, the two that carried the most of the survey respondents were starting your own business and investing in property, meaning like investing in real estate. So if you want to be gener generationally wealthy, you either need

5:48 to be an entrepreneur or a real estate investor. Thoughts on that? Well, I mean it's those are two good places. I mean I think that those are very positive. Look, truthfully, I'm proud of all three of these. If you think about it, starting a business, we've been down that path. Now, we'll talk a little bit, we'll give some color on that in a minute to show why that's it's kind of scary. But I also see once again, I think they're on a threshold if they feel change is coming. And and I think also this younger generation feels like we've noticed this, you know, it's like if you want to be a creator of like I'll take my daughter, she's an animator,

6:21 you know, you in the past I think you hoped that you landed a job with like a Disney

6:25 Sure. But that's got to be much harder and and even there's there's going to be concerns in that. Now this younger generation because of the technology and stuff I think you think well can I go create my own

6:37 audience and I don't need to be Disney but I could create something. I think that's where so I love the starting your business. We'll talk about the risk with it

6:44 and much in that in that vein much smaller levels of exposure can lead to much greater success. We joked forever. Look, now it's gotten I love to say that we've talked it into existence, but forever the joke Bo and I had is that we have 20,000 people that like watching this show. I'm happy to report we have millions of you this, but forever we're like, as long as we got 20 th,000 people that like our show, I think this will be okay. But it is, but I think that is the same mindset that goes into it. And investing in property, look, that is very valuable. Um, I will tell you I I'm I'm glad to see Gen Z understands they they put it high, but they're not like the general population because I think that there's, you know, you make all your money on real estate when you buy the real estate and we just came through a postinflationary period. It's harder actually to make money in real estate. I

7:31 think right now with interest rates and where um we just came through that post inflation

7:36 and that's the only real estate market Jenzie knows. The only thing they know is super elevated real estate prices and very high interest rates. They haven't seen some of the other real estate markets the general population has seen.

7:46 And then I like the third one which is investing in the financial markets where you don't have to choose the winners or losers. Just be in the market.

7:54 Yeah. I think that's the one that gets me the most excited because that's available to everyone. At at the end of the day, not everyone is going to be an entrepreneur. Starting a business and running a business and owning business is a wonderful thing, but it's not for everyone. And the same is true for investing in property and real estate. A lot of people don't want to be real estate investors. They don't want to be landlords. They don't want to have illiquidity. They don't want to have to deal with maintenance and tenants and those sorts of things. But I do think we live in a time that is so wonderful that investing in the stock market, allowing your dollars to work for you while you sleep is easier than ever. And I think it really is available to everyone now.

8:34 Even more just in your working career, Brian, it is so much easier now for someone to go online, open an account, fund an account, link a check account, and get their money working. Back in the '9s, you couldn't do it that easy.

8:46 Yeah. I I hate to to be the compare and contrast, but it is such I had to go find somebody.

8:50 Mhm. I mean, because like I said, I came out of college right as the internet was getting started. Um, but it wasn't like you could go open up an account, right, for at fidelity.com or vanguard.com. you had to go find. So I found like an insurance salesman who sold me a Bshare

9:06 in this specialized banking fund. I mean, and now it looks back now. Look, I have no regrets because it got the the the little pebble rolling down the hill to turn me into who I am and and go on this journey. But you're spot on, Bo. This has gotten so much easier. The the boundaries or the barriers to entry are are completely diminished at this point. So there's no excuse not to take your billionaire of time resources and turn it into actual assets in the long term.

9:33 And what I love that you said is even though you didn't do it perfectly, even though you didn't get it exactly right early on, just doing something was hugely impactful in your financial life. And we wanted to put some actual numbers to this. So let's just say that you right now earn the median household income of about $84,000 a year. No matter where you are, whether you're Gen Z, whether you're general pop, uh, young or old, let's just assume that that's where you are. $84,000 of household income. And let's say that you're going to commit. I'm going to save 10% of my earnings into my 401k. Now, perhaps some portion of that employer match. Perhaps it's all you. But we just know that you're going to have about $700 a month going into your 401k. And let's also assume that you can earn an 8% rate of return over the long term. You're going to put this money to work and you're going to let it work for you. And let's

10:23 be real, real real conservative. Let's say that your household income does not change. You just stay at $84,000 this year, next year, the years beyond, and it does not move. What's so amazing about investing in the stock market, what's so incredible about letting your dollars work for you is that no matter where you are in your journey, it's pretty exciting. If you are right now a 40-year-old, that is where you are, and you're starting out and you just begin putting that money to work, just that 10% has the potential to turn into $663,000 by the time that you get to retirement.

10:59 If you're a 30-year-old, just doing that 10% has the opportunity to turn into $1.6 million by the time that you retire. And if you're a 20-year-old, just saving that 10% because you have time on your side can turn into $3.6 million by the time that you retire. And if you get to retirement and you have a portfolio that is $3.5 million, you certainly are now crossing into that precipice where you are now talking about generational wealth that can last for your lifetime and also provide for the heirs that come behind it. Well, and I think that this is actually probably to put the the cherry on top of the Sunday of explaining between those three different ways why this is the easiest.

11:44 And by the way, it doesn't have to be an eitheror. I know in my own journey a lot of times it's and because so I would encourage everybody to understand even if you're going to be a real estate investor or you're going to be an entrepreneur, you're going to want to and be an investor into this broad economy. So, so memorize and learn what we just talked about with that 10%. But I did did want to talk about for two quick comments. I think like starting a business, the reason I think most businesses fail because you see the stats, they're dreary about how hard it is to be an entrepreneur is because people just don't prepare. They don't plan. They don't they don't realize that it's going to take three years to likely catch traction. Yep. And if you don't have that valuable resource of cash to not only fund the new company, but to also sustain you, you're not giving it a fighting chance, no matter how talented,

12:39 how passionate you are. So, make sure you're taking an ounce of preparation before you make the big jump into starting something. Take that's why we always talk about putting on your 3D glasses. Real estate, it's a little bit of an echo. I've already said it. It's all about the purchase price and you also have to have a financial foundation underneath you. That's why I just did this cuz I'm thinking about the financial order of operations. It's a step seven to eight type thing before you're getting into really step around step eight where you have the abundance of resources that you can cover if bad things and you're using leverage and and debt and other things to buy real estate.

13:16 So don't skip out on those steps. Get in there, start building your investment portfolio, and then use this as an amplifier when you want to go become an entrepreneur. when you use as an amplifier when you want to get into real estate, you can do all the above.

13:32 Now, I do think there was one thing that is worth addressing that came out of the survey because again, we acknowledge, we love that starting your own business was up there. That's a great way to build wealth. Investing in property at the right time is a great way to build wealth. We love investing in the stock market and letting our dollars work for us. But there were two on here that caught my eye. And I was a little surprised even though they were small numbers to see that when asked what are the best ways to build wealth or what's the best way to build generational wealth. There were two on here that folks actually answered. One of them was becoming an influencer, meaning I'm going to be on Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, fill in the blank and I'm going to become famous. or the other was gambling, sports betting, lottery, casinos.

14:23 Those are not the ways that people build wealth. Certainly, there are people out there able to have some influence and be able to develop some sort of audience and some sort of following, but it's only if you develop that following and then you able to monetize the following you developed and then you can put that money to work doing the investing in the stock market or turning the influence into a business. And those are the exceptions. They are not the rules. And it's important to keep that in mind when you figure out how you're going to begin building your financial future.

14:56 If you're trying to figure out what's um the the mirage in the desert versus what's the reality, I would encourage everybody, please go to moneyguy.com/resources. Take advantage of all of our free stuff. if you're at the beginning of your journey. You know, last last week I got kind of emotional thinking about some of the reviews I see on Amazon for for Millionaire Mission because you guys have talked about how I'm changing your life. That's exactly what we're trying to do with our resource page, too. I mean, because we've added so many different hubs, tools, and other things.

15:27 You're crazy if you don't get in there and take advantage of some of this free stuff so that you don't have to be like a 22-year-old version of myself where I was like, "Okay, I've got this education. and I've got my first job. Now what? We are the what? So that you can really maximize your billionaire of time opportunity especially in your 20s and 30s.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "Why Gen Z Thinks the Future Is Brighter Than Everyone Else"?

In order: 15:00 Millionaire Mission.

What is mentioned in this The Money Guy Show episode?

3 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Millionaire Mission, Bren, Money Guy. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Why Gen Z Thinks the Future Is Brighter Than Everyone Else"?

The episode runs 16 min; the transcript is about 3,225 words in 35 timestamped sections.

More from The Money Guy Show

• All analyzed episodes
• People mentioned on The Money Guy Show
• Topics mentioned on The Money Guy Show