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Young adults (Millenials) spend ~5% more on retail items than both Boomers and Gen z, and that is about 21% more than Gen X. Gen Z, while not spending as much now as Millenials, is slated to outpace them by 2030 making them the most significant retail market. Gen Z spent money on experiences and pays premiums for what they perceive as value or value aligned commerce. They are most likely to see their spending as a social vote.

Young adults, by comparison to Gen X and Boomers are huge spenders. These generations all bore the brunt of exaggerated costs of education, and these younger generations carry far more credit card debt, which when added to student debt and impulsive spending habits, means causes them to defer buying a house and marriage/family.

If you listen to media, the blame goes everywhere except personal responsibility. In today’s post, I want to get beyond these statistics to help you uncover the primary driver of both your saving and spending habits, and that is what my friend Rick Kahler , a financial advisor and one of our nations few “financial therapists” tells us is: Our money scripts.

It’s actually easy to become a millionaire in America. Building wealth and having financial freedom doesn’t necessarily require a huge income, nor that we come from wealth. Most millionaires (According to Dave Ramsey) are ordinary earners who stick to a budget, stay out of debt, and begin investing early and continue to do so over time. What Rick and Ramsey are helping people to understand is that money is not a thing, it’s the byproduct of how you think. I listen to the tantrums on TikTok complaining that previous generations taking all the wealth, leaving them with no opportunity. This is not true. What is true, is that these “Money messages” inside their heads are causing them to make financial decisions which reduce their opportunities.

“Rich people are greedy…Money is the root of all evil…things are too expensive now for me to save money…there won’t be any left for me…what’s the point if the math doesn’t work?” All of these are examples of what Rick would call “money scripts” and I’ll add that these are the toxic kind. But the math can and does work, but not until we resolve the message in our heads.

Consider a high-schooler who makes $15/hr working 15 hours a week. From ages 16-18 he/she will earn over $20,000. If they saved/invested half of this, they would begin amortizing that $10,000, while still spending half on fun stuff. If they don’t choose a name-brand college, living at home and go to a state school, with no pay increase and still only working 15 hours a week, they can still have $10,000 in the bank and pay cash for tuition and fees (avg $11,700/yr) graduating with no student loan debt. After graduating, with no debt incurred, they can now work full time and afford to launch their lives.

It’s not opportunity holding younger generations back, it’s their money scripts. These money messages have some spending more, while others are saving more. Some young people are spending all their money on a cars, vacations, or eating out. Their message is that “they deserve luxuries”, or that “everyone is in credit card debt,” or that “a name brand diploma will pay for itself.” Once in debt, opportunity becomes harder to possess. If you owe $100k, you can’t afford a job that doesn’t cover your bills, or you”ll have to work 2 or 3 jobs.

“The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7)

“Whoever is slothful will not roast his game, but the diligent man will get precious wealth.” (Proverbs 12:27)

“One pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.” (Proverbs 13:7)

“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” (Proverbs 13:11)

“He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity”. (Ecclesiastes 5:10)

T. Harv Ecker wrote a book called “The Millionaire Mindset” and he pointed out the vast difference between the way the wealthy think about money and the how the poor think about money. We all know this, but we still assume that having the money is what causes us think differently about it. In fact it’s the other way around. If you want to be a millionaire, you must first learn to think like one. Consider how 70% of +Million dollar lotto winners are bankrupt within 5 years. Consider how 78% of professional athletes go broke despite having multi-million dollar contracts.

Poverty and wealth are not determined by whether we are lucky, our upbringing, or our economy, they are determined by how we think…which determines our decisions…which determine outcomes.

“Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits will have plenty of poverty.” (Proverbs 28:19)

If we don’t like our financial life, first take responsibility for it. If you’re in debt, own all foolish decisions. Don’t blame politics, the economy, your parents, or your environment. Don’t look to the government to fix your problem, it’s far more foolish with money than you. Acknowledge situations outside our control that have incurred financial hardship, don’t play victim and then take responsibility for getting out. Once our money messages have changed, consider this advice from Ramsey and others to become free of debt and accumulate wealth.

1. Stop all unnecessary spending. You must go “scorched earth” existence. No Netflix, no eating out, no subscriptions, nothing but the absolute necessities.
2. Make a complete budget of all you owe, all you make, and where you spend it. Use an app help you.
3. Live cheaper or earn more (second, third job), sell things, move, better daycare alternatives.
4. Get rid of all car payments, downsize to cheap reliable car.
5. Apply all the savings to your highest interest debt. Then “snowball-(Ramsey)” it.
6. Embrace the humility of taking responsibility. Enjoy going without. Let the entitled part of you die.
7. Train yourself to see opportunity and begin preparing for it in conjunction with digging out.
8. Commit to the long game. While you can get into debt overnight, you can’t get out quickly. We either learn diligence by getting wealthy, or by digging out of debt. If you see progress, you can know that you are ready to gain wealth too.
9. Look for and leverage opportunities, relationships that can help accelerate your opportunities.
10. Zip code arbitrage. Drive till you qualify. Ask yourself why you insist on living where you do.
11. Once out of debt, begin saving and investing.
12. Once you have e-fund, and investments, you can gradually increase your quality of life in keeping with your budget. It may never go back to how it was when you were over-spending.
13. Do something with your freedom.

There is a lot of financial advice out there, so be ware because it is not all equal. Not all people offering advice are fiduciaries, make sure you are working with one. Youtube and TikTok are not always helpful. The deeper goal is not wealth, but learning diligence, learning how to think correctly about money and wealth follows. Once your money message changes, opportunities will follow.