Millennials are projected to number 75.3 million for 2015, surpassing a projected 74.9 million for Baby Boomers. The Millennials will therefore comprise a greater percentage of the population than Baby Boomers for the first time. To gain insight into the saving habits of Millennials, we recently performed a survey of those from the ages of 18 to 34. We received 2,585 responses to our survey. The results of our survey found that over 50% of Millennials have less than $1,000 in savings. This would indicate that most millennials do not have a cushion to fall back on in case of an emergency. The rest of our findings can be analyzed with the visualizations below:
For those surveyed, we found that:
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51.8% of Millennials have less than $1,000 in savings.
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18% of Millennials have savings of $1,000 to $5,000.
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7.3% of Millennials have savings of $5,000 to $10,000.
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6.4% of Millennials have savings of $10,000 to $20,000.
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16.5% of Millennials have savings of more than $20,000.
Millennials Savings by Income Group
Breaking it down by the income of the survey participant, we unsurprisingly found that the level of income appeared to have a correlation with the amount of savings. We found that:
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56.3% of Millennials earning $25,000 to $49,000 had less than $1,000 in savings. This compared with 31.2% of those earning $75,000 to $99,999.
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Among those earning $100,000 to $149,000, 14.8% had savings of $5,000 to $10,000
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14.3% of those with savings of $10,000 to $20,000 were those Millennials with incomes in excess of $150,000, the highest percentage in that range of savings.
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Around 50% of those with incomes in excess of $150,000 had savings of more than $20,000.
Millennials Savings by Gender Group
We also found differences in the amount of savings between male and female respondents:
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56.7% of females have less than $1,000 in savings as compared to 46.5% for males.
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On the upper end of the savings scale, 21.5% of males have more than $20,000 saved versus only 11.9% for females.
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For savings in the range of $1,000 to $20,000, the percentages between male and females respondents were roughly the same.
Millennials Savings by Age Group
For a breakdown of savings by age groups we found:
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57.6% of respondents from the ages of 18 to 24 have less than $1,000 in savings. This compared to 47.1% of those from the ages of 25 to 34.
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For savings of $1,000 to $5,000, 19.6% of respondents from 18 to 24 had savings in this range, compared to 16.6% of those from 25 to 34.
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On the upper end of the scale, 11.7% of those from 18 to 24 had savings in excess of $20,000, compared with 20.5% of those from 25 to 34.
Surprisingly, it appears that Millennials may be saving more money than other those in other age groups. Still, their financial behavior remains a mystery even to Janet Yellen, the head of the Federal Reserve. Since Millennials are growing as a percentage of the population, their savings and spending habits will increasingly have a major impact on the overall economy.
The Majority of Millennials Have $1,000 or Less in Savings via Howmuch.net
Millennials will not save the housing market: 50 percent of Millennials have less than $1,000 in savings. A large number are mired in student debt.
Contrary to anecdotal Taco Tuesday baby boomer nonsense, Millennials are not in any position to save the housing market. Millennials have differing priorities some based on generational trends but some being driven by economic necessity. The vast majority of the $1.3 trillion in student debt is being carried by younger Americans, not older baby boomers who went to college when state schools were nearly free and private institutions were dirt cheap that you could work at a fast food joint and pay for your annual tuition. It was also a time when buying a home wasn’t some giant global speculative gamble. Today we have markets where investors dominate, foreign money is king, and flippers are house humping their way into leased cars and plastic surgery. In California, 2.3 million adults live with their parents. As things improved, some went out and formed new households as renters. Some pundits think that many of these people were saving big bucks living at home with their parents but the latest survey shows the exact opposite. 50 percent of Millennials have less than $1,000 in savings. And these are the people that will buy $700,000 crap shacks that were built during the Great Depression?
No wonder they have less than $1,000.
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have a way over 30k a year manager that works for me just buy on credit a 38k car . and he wonders why he cant save for a house . he is this age bracket . lotsa flash , no cash tho . has no conception of looking beyond the here and now and realizing that short term programmed thinking is the reason sigh whatever
It’s sad – Millennials spend their money on iCrap, coffee, restaurants, and entertainment.
You cannot believe the number of restaurants that open monthly in Minneapolis. You can tell they are geared toward Millennials: two big items on the menu are ‘burgers’ and ‘mac and cheese’.
$12 – $14 bucks for a burger? How stupid.
An age distribution would help.
A lot o millennials aren’t adults yet, and averages get skewed when the age range runs from around 10 to the early 30’s.
Wonder what the average savings of the 30+- year old’s is.
In any event, they better get serious and start making some money, there’s going to be a lot of people they will need to support during their lifetimes ranging from retirees to illegal immigrants and Muslim migrants.
@gm: “manager that works for me just buy on credit a 38k car”
Let me guess… BMW 335i, silver. $155 oil changes.
After the financial ruin that is coming most people will be as poor as most Millennials.So we finally have equality.
When I was in my thirties, I too did not have two dimes to rub together, and no savings.
I made up my savings in the last 10 years before my retirement.
And unfortunately the millennials are facing a major depression in the next few years, so hopefully they will be able to find work in the new world order after the carnage is over, but I’m not holding my breath on that one.
I am shocked, just shocked. Here I was believing that millenials were bastions of thrift and responsibility. I will have to console myself with a nice cold one later.
Sanders 2016 and his new living wage promise?
My 32 year old son employs all millennials, they do this to themselves, the mounting debt and the look to dems to solve their problems through a ballot box.
He laughs because while a politician will make any promise they can’t keep, what they have created is a new form of slavery.
All these debt ridden millennials will eventually work for whatever wages any employer offers.
Sandpaper on the old windshield wipers………
Life is tough. It’s tougher if you’re stupid.
Starvation is a powerful motivator, even stupid humans will get off their ass when the handouts stop. Smart humans in that age group are already out hustling a buck. Let’s wait and see who comes out on top.
@anon.
“In any event, they better get serious and start making some money, there’s going to be a lot of people they will need to support during their lifetimes ranging from retirees to illegal immigrants and Muslim migrants.”
good sardonic humor!!
Most Millennials I know do not expect to live to see 50, so they would rather spend what little they do have today and enjoy it immediately, rather than saving it for some future date that they do not expect to see in any event. This explains much of their behavior in general, best covered by the popular Millennial phrase “YOLO” (you only live once). Their future sucks, and they know it.