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Tag: Millennials

  • Mean Girls x Wal-Mart Commercial: A None Too Subtle Trojan Horse for Capitalism Via Millennial Nostalgia

    Mean Girls x Wal-Mart Commercial: A None Too Subtle Trojan Horse for Capitalism Via Millennial Nostalgia

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    As the “reunion” that everyone’s been waiting for, it was practically inevitable that the Mean Girls “assembly” (high school pun intended) would disappoint. Mainly because, yes, the so-called reunion is a fucking Wal-Mart commercial. That said, it actually seems as though, rather than people being disappointed by it, they’re somehow delighted. Dare one say…“tickled.” But the reason behind that appears to be less about content and more about an increasing fiendishness for nostalgia, especially among millennials. And no, it’s not because they’re, as Gen Z would falsely bill them, “old,” but because it’s glaringly apparent that times in 2004 were far more bearable—fun, even (remember fun?)—than times in 2023. 

    Of course, naysayers and “pro-progressive” types would argue that life was so much worse back then (see: the media manipulation and vilification of women like Britney Spears). That we’ve come “such a long way” (or “such a long way,” as Gretchen Wieners [Lacey Chabert] would utter it) in our perception of things (“thing” being the word that still describes how men see women) and our “tolerance for others” (read: white people in print and media making flaccid attempts at “inclusivity”). But the truth is, psychologically, society has gone further back into the Dark Ages with its mentality—particularly toward women and minorities (who are only viewed as minorities by the white people who only make up about eight percent of the world’s population). So yeah, a throwback to 2004 is bound to feel pretty fucking great right now. Like sweet candy compared to the tasteless gruel (a riff on “grool,” obviously) being served up on a daily basis in this part of the century. 

    What’s more, 2004 was still within a prime era for the U.S. in terms of continuing to hold up capitalism as what George W. Bush would later call “the best system ever devised.” To that end, one would like to believe the Mean Girls x Wal-Mart commercial is a wink-wink nod to the Bush years’ unironic exaltation of capitalism, but no, that’s clearly not the case. In fact, this capitalistic propaganda posing as “Mean Girls nostalgia” at its worst treats the viewers as though they themselves still live in 2004, when it was easier to pretend “deal shopping” for Black Friday isn’t the very thing that’s helped to make 2023 even more of a dystopia compared to 2004. Or that the presence of Missy Elliott (whose song, “Pass That Dutch,” plays repeatedly throughout the original Mean Girls, therefore this commercial) spelling out “D-E-A-L-S”  instead of “K-L-A” (that’s how Coach Carr [Dwayne Hill] spells “chlamydia”) somehow makes the human predilection for consumerism more “kosher.” As does, according to the commercial creators, Gretchen Wieners replacing Regina George (Rachel McAdams) in the silver Lexus convertible. Except it’s now a brandless convertible of a nondescript tone.

    That’s right, since Rachel McAdams announced simply that she “didn’t want to” be part of the little puff piece for capitalism, they got Chabert to fill in for one of McAdams’ key moments from the film. So in lieu of Regina pulling up to the soccer field and shouting, “Get in loser, we’re going shopping,” Gretchen does. And no, it’s not to pick up Cady (Lindsay Lohan) and Karen (Amanda Seyfried), but rather, her own high school-age daughter (which doesn’t quite mathematically track), Amber Wieners. Amber stands on the field with her clique comprised of the next generation mean girls, and is absolutely mortified (could it be because Gen Z is supposed to be more environmentally concerned? No, it’s because, no matter what era you’re in, parents are always humiliating) when Gretchen cries out, “Get in sweetie, we’re going deals shopping!” Even though the back of her car is already piled high with plenty of shit from Wal-Mart. Because what it the American message if not, even to this day: excess! 

    So it is that the Mean Girls x Wal-Mart “partnership” wields nostalgia like a seductive and deadly weapon to keep encouraging the very capitalistic behavior that will be humanity’s undoing. Behavior that millennials once got to relish in the 00s without half as much guilt about it as there is now (and mainly only because of Greta Thunberg). Yet that’s the the thing, isn’ it? There’s still clearly not enough guilt or compunction about it if a commercial like this can exist…and continue to be so gleefully embraced. The same goes for the abominable Menulog commercial starring Latto and Christina Aguilera. Both employ the same method of assaulting the audience with “eye candy” and familiar 00s nostalgia (via Christina Aguilera) to distract from the obvious point: we want you to keep engaging in the same buying patterns as the very generation you and Gen Z are constantly railing against—baby boomers. And in this scenario, it makes all the sense in the world that millennials are also known as echo boomers. Just look at the way Cady, Gretchen and Karen are living. That is to say, in the exact same way as their own parents. 

    The warm reception toward this commercial (and its tainting of the original movie) is, accordingly, a sign of how desperately so many people want to deny the reality of now. One in which the idea of Cady, Gretchen and Karen (though, pointedly, not Regina) continuing to carry out the same toxic consumerist cycle of the generation before them is a comfort rather than a horror show. After all, millennials were supposed to be different—they were supposed to want something more (besides more material goods). And yet, like the yippies of the 1960s who became yuppies in the 1980s (see: Jerry Rubin), millennials, if we’re to go by this commercial, have gladly sold out in the same way to keep the very system that has failed them (perhaps more than anyone) going. 

    It does seem fitting, in this regard that McAdams, the lone Gen Xer of the group (a.k.a. the “eldest” of the quartet at forty-four) opted to opt out. Perhaps old enough to know she doesn’t really want to be part of this schlock under the pretense of it being something “for the fans” when, obviously, it’s for nobody’s benefit other than the capitalist agenda’s, which has been using pop culture for decades upon decades to promote its purpose. This brings us to the fact that a “Mean Girls” commercial has already been recently used to promote a brand: Coach. Yes, back in 2021, Megan Thee Stallion stepped into the role of Regina George (because McAdams so patently doesn’t want to) to help recreate the introduction scene to the leader of The Plastics and, of course, sell some overpriced handbags. 

    Then there was a 2022 Allbirds commercial wherein Lohan, as usual, capitalized on Mean Girls (one of her only viable movies) to sell some shoes by peppering in “subtle” references to the movie. Like how she was a mathlete in high school. She then goes to pick out a pair of pink running shoes and says, “Well, it is Wednesday.” More “hardy-har-har” allusions arrive when she adds, “These don’t just look cute. They’re made with natural materials…always avoid the plastics,” followed by, “Bouncy. Perfect for a queen bee like Lindsay Lohan.” The point being, it’s fairly evident that, for whatever reason, Mean Girls has become a go-to for bolstering consumer faith in capitalism. And again, that’s arguably because 2004 was such a peak time for worshiping it. But what’s past doesn’t have to be present…so long as you’re not seduced by it. Therein lies the catch.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • A single person living in Florida making between $45,000 and $145,000: The middle class millennial and boomer have more in common than you think

    A single person living in Florida making between $45,000 and $145,000: The middle class millennial and boomer have more in common than you think

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    For once, boomers and millennials seem to be on the same team—at least those in the middle class. For all the differences between the two generations, there’s a surprisingly strong overlap in the venn diagram of generations. (This may make sense when you consider that by and large, boomers raised millennials, but that’s another story.)

    The striking similarities are there in a new report from H&R Block, which analyzed data representing 10.5 million Americans who filed their taxes with the company since 2000 as well as a survey of 1,000-plus taxpayers. Nearly half of these tax filers, 4.6 million, reported an Adjusted Gross Income between $45,000 and $145,000, which H&R Block deems middle income. While this included everyone across all generations, the highest average ages were 32 and 62 years old—the millennial and the boomer, respectively. 

    Of course, these figures make sense since millennials and boomers are the largest generations, whereas Gen X and Gen Z are much smaller. It only stands to reason that the largest number of middle-class Americans would correspond. But even still, they have more in common than you might think. 

    Many middle-class Americans aren’t—or are no longer—married. While that share is smaller for millennials (43%) than for boomers (50%), the gap isn’t all that big. It’s unsurprising data in a couple senses, considering millennials’ inclination to marry later in life or not at all, as well as the fact that marriage tends to lift people up and out the middle class altogether. They also prefer to live in coastal states such as North Carolina, Texas, and Florida. But one of their biggest overlaps, however surprising it may be, is how they feel about money.

    ‘A very real fear’ about money

    “Millennials and boomers—who we found to make up the majority of middle-income Americans – have drastically different views of the world,” Kathy Pickering, Chief Tax Officer at H&R Block, tells Fortune. “Where we see them converge is on their feelings towards their income and cost of living. Worries about inflation and how it continues to impact income growth is a very real fear among both millennials and boomers.”

    The majority of these households make under $80,000 (the median U.S. household income is $70,784), and are worried about how inflation has hit their paychecks despite experiencing income gains that surpassed expected growth forecasts. Only half of middle class millennials were happy with their pay growth, while 65% of middle class boomers said they were unhappy with it. Nearly half (42%) of boomers also feel they are worse off financially this year than last. 

    Just trying to get by

    But these generations are responding to their money worries differently, in line with their life stages. Millennials were the most likely to report feeling financially insecure, which makes sense considering the many economic challenges they’ve faced and the fact they’re entering high-spending years. 

    It explains why many also said they were working two jobs to make ends meet. More vulnerable to a volatile economy, young adults are more likely to turn to gig work than older generations. Two in five adults in the U.S. have a job on the side, a Bankrate survey finds. These extra streams of income are meant to help combat their biggest concern—the cost of living, per Deloitte, but a new Bank of America report finds these side gigs still aren’t giving young adults enough money to get by. 

    Meanwhile, boomers are also hustling, although not quite to such an extent. While 44% of those polled by H&R Block were retired, 38% were still working full-time and some had part-time gigs or a side hustle. One respondent noted they were “working extra hours to make more money.” 

    That’s unsurprising considering $1 million is no longer enough to retire comfortably. As we live longer and navigate a more expensive economy, many people end up working longer or returning to the workforce for more money. Boomers aren’t going out of the office any time soon, it seems; a report from Bain & Company found that by 2031 older workers will make up more than a quarter of the workforce globally by 2031,10% higher than in 2011. 

    The cost of living crisis

    Middle-income boomers are also focused on postponing large purchases, preferring to save, invest, or pay off debt, H&R Block found. The majority at least have the security of owning a home, whereas millennials were the most likely to report to H&R Block that they’re still renting.

    Even millennial millionaires rent because the cost of city living is so high. No wonder the generation increasingly feels like they’ll never be homeowners. (Although that might be slowly changing—the number of millennials who own a home finally exceeds those that rent one.)
    Ultimately, 62% of millennials feel extremely concerned about inflation and 70% of boomers expect inflation to continue rising, per H&R Block. Even if inflation has technically made the middle class wealthier, that doesn’t stop households from feeling strapped as they navigate the squeeze of tight housing and job markets. After saving unprecedented amounts during the early pandemic, the middle class has since fallen from said great heights.

    Still, middle-class millennials remain hopeful—they are most likely to believe their income will increase next year, at 67%. Middle class boomers weren’t so optimistic, with 66% believing their financial situation will stay the same or get worse. It’s an interesting dichotomy, considering that it’s millennials have often gotten the short end of the economic stick.

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    Chloe Berger, Hillary Hoffower

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  • Goosebumps Comes For the Very Generation That Grew Up On It

    Goosebumps Comes For the Very Generation That Grew Up On It

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    When it comes to repackaging pop culture, nothing has ever been sacred. Least of all R. L. Stine’s Goosebumps, which has been reworked a few different ways on-screen at this point. But now, a new series tying together some of the more seminal books in the series is being tailored toward Gen Z. A generation, evidently, that sees millennials as being “geriatrically” on par with baby boomers. Because, as it should be no secret by now, even a senior in high school can be billed as an “old hag” by a Gen Z freshman. And naturally, that ageism always applies more heavily toward a girl than a boy. Even for a generation as supposedly evolved as Z. 

    Which brings us to the fact that their blatant prejudices against anyone older than them is not exactly the epitome of the “wokeness” they proclaim. While some would argue Gen Z has every right to rail against the generations that have come before them as a result of placing the blame for the climate change effects they will endure on the careless actions of their forebears, what many fail to see is that Gen Z consumerism is exactly the same if not worse than previous generations. And that stems largely from a fast fashion fetish (*cough cough* Shein) that TikTok—Gen Z’s Bible—has only helped fortify. There seems to be very little concern, in fact, with the environment on Gen Z’s part. Though the smokescreen of having Greta Thunberg as their “spokesperson” might easily lead one to fall into the trap of believing Gen Z is “different,” the truth is that they’re all still living like there’s no tomorrow (e.g., engaging in the same rapacious capitalism as everyone else) because there probably won’t be…at least not for those who can’t afford to live in the zones where climate change hasn’t made the land uninhabitable. 

    Millennials, it can be argued, were instilled with stronger values about environmental conservation, starting from elementary school. Told to get rid of their waste appropriately, “video instructionals” featuring Recycle Rex and urgings to cut up six-pack plastic rings before disposal so marine life wouldn’t get tangled in them were par for the educational course. In the boomer era, no such education was given. Instead, that generation had to contend with “in the event of nuclear war” instructionals (the instruction? “Duck and cover”). Reading was also still par for the course in “millennial times.” Especially Goosebumps, which was quickly translated into an Are You Afraid of the Dark?-esque series (one that famously featured Ryan Gosling in the “Say Cheese and Die” episode). 

    Thus, for Gen Z to wield the very texts that millennials grew up against them feels tantamount to them trying to say they know more about the internet. Like that blip when they announced using the laughing/crying emoji was a mark of millennial embarrassment (a.k.a. a sign of being old and out of touch). To that, one millennial memed an image of the lion from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe saying, “Do not cite the deep magic to me Witch. I was there when it was written.” With the text above it reading, “Me when Gen Z tries to tell me which emoji you can or can’t use.” The same goes quite literally for Goosebumps, with the original book series being written and released between 1992 and 1997. For many a millennial—particularly the middle-class millennials to whom the literature was tailored—this series was emblematic of their childhood. And, funnily enough, the tagline for the latest series adaptation is: “Scarier than you remember.” Maybe because it’s pretty goddamn scary to see Gen Z or “templates of Gen Z” tossing out ageist jokes at people who are as young as Taylor Swift. Case in point, using a Gen Z character by the name of James (Miles McKenna) as a mouthpiece for furthering the already increasingly bad blood between millennials and Gen Z (a dialogue maneuver that seems to be unnecessarily cruel). As all jokes made at the expense of age are. 

    The “joke” in question comes when James says, “…like a millennial on TikTok seeing a slang word for the first time and trying to use it like they know what it means.” First of all, many self-respecting millennials (save for celebrities) don’t bother to fuck with TikTok. They stick with the classics, i.e. Instagram. In fact, TikTok is a direct cause of why ageism among Gen Z is way more rampant than it ever was among other generations. And while, sure, most who experience youth are prone to making ageist comments as though they don’t realize the reaper (of youth) is coming for them sooner rather than later, Gen Z digs are not only more pervasive because of the false standards of beauty placed on people as a result of social media scrolling 24/7, but because those digs are immortalized on said tool of self-destruction. That means when Gen Z is old and decrepit, they can look back “fondly” on all the ageist things used to say; it’s right there on the internet.

    Worse still, the actor playing James is pulling the ultimate millennial media trope of portraying a high schooler while in his late twenties. With this in mind, it also bears noting that McKenna himself is twenty-seven, this considered past the cusp of being Gen Z (generally considered to be born between the years of 1997 and 2012). So when he says these words, he’s really only doing damage to himself, to his “own kind.” And, to this end, when it becomes clear that the attempt at Gen Z parlance is being written by people outside that birth cohort (made clear when James says in a cheugy manner, “It’s getting really cis-het up in here”), well, it’s almost even more offensive. Because why try to fan the flames of a war that’s already openly raging (complete with Gen Z hashtagging so many things “#millennialcringe”)? And, more importantly, why try to pretend that Goosebumps is anything other than hallowed millennial text that should never be used to insult them? They, after all, were the ones that helped build that YA empire. That simply isn’t the kind of hurt R. L. Stine ever wanted to inflict.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Neiman Marcus’ CEO says a key to his success is a habit Gen Z has forgotten

    Neiman Marcus’ CEO says a key to his success is a habit Gen Z has forgotten

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    To the youngest cohort of the workforce, a thank-you note may seem as antiquated as phone books and landlines, but the CEO of Neiman Marcus swears by them. 

    Geoffroy van Raemdonck, chief executive of the $5 billion-a-year luxury retailer, says he sends thank-you notes every single day. Other experts agree—sending a quick thank you after a job interview could be the difference between being hired or not. At the very least, it’s a simple way to personally show one’s gratitude in an era of technology and increasing automation.

    “I was taught by great mentors of the power of sending a thank-you note,” van Raemdonck told Fortune. “It’s really important for me—the moment of ‘thank you’—because I know what it is to receive a thank you, to be acknowledged,” he said. 

    Before the COVID-19 pandemic, van Raemdonck said he would send anywhere between three to five handwritten thank-you notes a day. During and after the pandemic, as workers switched to remote or hybrid work schedules and made going into the office from nine to five obsolete, he switched to texts, emails, and quick phone calls. 

    “I want to be a generous leader,” he said. “The way I remind myself is by recognizing the generosity of others.” 

    He described the process of expressing appreciation as a muscle: “When I get stuck every day and go back and say,…who should I thank for their contribution to my life or to the life of the organization? It really is this muscle.”

    Other executives also swear by thank-you notes, especially when it comes to hiring. Jessica Liebman, chief people officer at Insider, wrote that forgetting to write a thank-you email after an interview is the number-one mistake that gets job candidates booted from the hiring process.

    “As a hiring manager, you should always expect a thank-you email, and you should never make an offer to someone who neglected to send one,” Liebman wrote.

    The email reflects two important things, according to Liebman: It shows that the person wants the job, and that they are “eager, organized, and well mannered enough to send the note.” (However, she warns against sending handwritten letters after an interview.)

    The death of the thank-you note

    Gen Zers and millennials may be to blame for the death of the thank-you note. As younger workers enter the workforce, they’ve turned professional norms on their heads—from bending the work dress code, to rejecting assignments and turning down job offers in the name of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

    Here’s how one 27-year-old explained it to the Washington Post’s “Miss Manners” advice column: “It’s not that we don’t appreciate you or that we feel entitled to gifts. It’s that our way of saying ‘thank you’ is different. We don’t expect to receive thank-you cards, so please don’t expect us to send them.”

    “Miss Manners” acknowledged that while etiquette changes with the times, expressing gratitude is always necessary, no matter what generation the person belongs to. And others advocate for the power of handwritten thank-you notes in an increasingly digital age. 

    “In my opinion, old fashioned thank-you notes matter more now than they have in the past because so few people write them,” etiquette coach Maggie Oldham told the New York Times. “Handwritten notes are a differentiator. They show the person you’re thanking that you made a sincere effort to acknowledge their act of kindness or generosity.”

    Van Raemdonck believes sending thank-you notes not only makes him a more thoughtful leader, but a better person. 

    “I know the impact when you receive one. But frankly, the impact is equally great for the one who gives a thank you,” van Raemdonck said. “It’s a good way to remind ourselves that we can do great every day.”

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    Paige Hagy

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  • Does Marijuana Really Make You Frisky

    Does Marijuana Really Make You Frisky

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    The stories swirl around marijuana about it being an aphrodisiac. For most consumers, cannabis heightens senses, puts you in a relaxed state and gives a feeling of connectedness to your partner. A relaxed evening makes can make for fun, but does marijuana really make you frisky?

    Cannabis is strongly linked to Hindu culture in many ways—it’s been a traditional folk medicine in India since the fourth century BCE, and it’s still widely known as an aphrodisiac in that country. The plant was used in tantric sex and yoga practices associated with the goddess Kali as early as 700 AD.

    Photo by Hakan Erenler via Pexels

    In a Journal of Sexual Medicine study, women were having sex 7.1 times per month on average when using marijuana, while men clocked in at 6.9 times per month. Those who abstained completely? For women it was 6 times per month versus 5.6 times a month for men.

    What’s happening? THC, the psychoactive cannabinoid in marijuana, releases dopamine in the brain. Dopamine acts as a neurotransmitter and it mimics anandamide, the naturally occurring neurochemical.  And in intimacy, and is a buffet of feel goods.

    Increased Stamina

    Marijuana appears to delay ejaculation for most men. Their isn’t enough data, but but it suggests cannabis eliminates stress and allows your brain to “just go with the flow.” Marijuana also creates a sensation of time slowing down, allowing the user to be more in the moment.

    RELATED: Want To Set The Mood? Try These 7 Sexy Weed Strains

    Achieve Orgasm

    About one third of American women report difficulty achieving orgasm with a male partner. When cannabis is consumed, it activates a receptor in your endocannabinoid system, creating physical and mental stimulation.  According to Dr. Mitch Earleywine, professor of psychology at the State University of New York: “The CB1 receptor seems to be involved in improved tactile sensations and general euphoria.”

    Intensify Orgasms

    Once again, there hasn’t been much research, so the data is unclear. But the intensity of the sexual activity is heightened under the influence of cannabis, especially among women. Dr. Earleywine attributes this sensation to the CB1 receptor’s ability to convert the THC into a more tactile experience. The euphoric feeling lasts longer, or at least the perception is the orgasm is longer. And whether it is perception or reality, the smile is the same.

    RELATED: People Who Use Weed Also Do More Of Another Fun Thing

    Eliminate Stress

    Anxiety and stress are sex killers. For most people, marijuana is a stress reliever and calms down your active brain. There is nothing worse than trying to enjoy an intimate moment when you’re stressing out about your job or your bank account.

    A Word Of Warning

    Chronic, long-term cannabis consumption in some people can cause low motivation. And, unfortunately, this includes sexual activity.

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    Amy Hansen

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  • Madison Beer Retreats to the “Sweet Relief” of the 2000s, Corroborating That There’s Little Relief in the Present

    Madison Beer Retreats to the “Sweet Relief” of the 2000s, Corroborating That There’s Little Relief in the Present

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    As is the case with most of “Gen Z pop culture,” it’s usually grafted from the 2000s. The latest addition to that truism comes in the form of Madison Beer’s “Sweet Relief” video (marking the sixth single from Silence Between Songs). In many ways, it picks up where “Spinnin” left off, in terms of offering viewers a suburban milieu that Beer inhabits/generally frolics through. This time around, however, things are much brighter (and less desolate) than they are in “Spinnin.” For a start, the sun is actually shining for most of the video, save for during the “requisite” shower scenes of Beer (who seems to want to channel a bit of Miley Cyrus in “Flowers”), which serve no real purpose other than for her to memorex her “hotness” for future generations. 

    However, when she’s not parading her soaped-up body for the camera, she’s actually playing the part of a “nerdy” shy girl. Which, of course, per “2000s law,” simply means donning a pair of glasses. And, if anyone had a doubt that this “little narrative” wasn’t meant to be set in the 00s, one of Beer’s besties proceeds to take photos of the group in Beer’s room with her Canon digital camera. The fact that Beer and her friends are just hanging out in her room together also harkens back to videos of the 00s, when “room culture” was at a peak (see also: Mandy Moore’s “Candy,” Britney Spears’ “From the Bottom of My Broken Heart” and Jennifer Lopez’s “If You Had My Love”—all released on the brink of Y2K). Not to mention that just about the only thing to do in suburbia is hang out in your room…unless you have a car, in which case, you can proceed to do donuts in an empty parking lot. 

    So it is that Beer and her friends, often inexplicably holding stuffed animals (like a teenage Britney for her 1999 Rolling Stone shoot), keep taking “prehistoric selfies” with each other, employing what would later be called a “MySpace angle.” Trying on clothes and putting on makeup—the usual “girlie things” that women in their teens (and beyond) are supposed to do when they congregate—it seems they grow bored enough of that to switch locations to another classic suburban backdrop: the yard. Complete with a trampoline and tire swing. And also—gasp!—boys. Some of them even smoking—double gasp!—cigarettes. And that’s also how you know this is supposed to be the 00s: no one is vaping. In fact, Beer has her “dweebish” eyes on the smoking dude as they all sit in a circle in front of the white picket fence (here, again, the Del Rey influence on Beer is present). And this is where the chorus of “Sweet Relief” applies to the “secret” glances being made as she sings, “It’s just something only we know/Baby, I can’t help myself/I’m seein’ you everywhere I go/I don’t dream of anyone else/All I need, sweet relief [obviously, a sexual euphemism]/It’s just somethin’ only we know/Something only we know.”

    Or so they would like to believe. But at the next cliche suburban location change—the parking lot of a mall—the two are talking in such an obvious “I like you” way that it would be hard not to notice the attraction. Plus, Beer has taken her glasses off so that he can suddenly “really” see her. The moments of fucking around in the parking lot (including Beer being pushed along on a skateboard) channel many a 90s video (see: The Smashing Pumpkins’ repertoire). Not to mention the parking lot driving scenes from Lana Del Rey’s “Bartender” portion of the “Norman Fucking Rockwell” video. And then there’s even a dash of Madonna’s 1983 “Borderline” video as the two talk in front of a sign post together…except that Beer has more luck than Madonna at endearing her love interest to her in this particular scene. 

    The picturesqueness of it all stems from the simplicity of a group of youths actually doing things together, however seemingly banal, that don’t involve the distracting prop of a phone. Because sure, plenty of teens had cell phones “back in the day,” but never used so pervasively as they are now. After all, there weren’t even enough options on a phone to warrant being sucked into it so readily (unless you count playing Snake on a Nokia).  

    And yet, beneath the surface of this being a “quaint” town in the middle of nowhere, the reality is that the group is roaming the streets of North Hollywood. Getting ice cream as night falls, the innocence of that act is mitigated, to the trained eye, by the fact that they walk past a dance studio called Ararat. Conveniently located just across the street from VIP Gentlemen’s Club…which makes for a perfect transition for the little girl taking “dignified” dance lessons to eventually transition into the nearby strip club. Because, as David Lynch has taught us repeatedly, anything “innocent” is always belied by a seedy underbelly. Especially in California. 

    Getting slurpees at a convenience store and “messing around” at a car wash then serve as the precursor to the “grand finale” of the video: jumping into someone’s pool while fully clothed. All of these “millennial” activities (though the latter trio of scenes smacks more decidedly of Gen X) seem to further emphasize that maybe Gen Z kind of hates it here, in this era. Even in spite of constantly mocking those who are even five years older than them for being “boomer.” Sure, every generation tends to romanticize the time period of the one that came before it, but something about this feels different. As though Gen Z inherently knows they got the fuzzy end of the lollipop with regard to experiencing youth. Like, actually experiencing it…instead of just seeing it acted out on their phones. 

    And so, like most Olivia Rodrigo videos, Beer’s “Sweet Relief” offers yet another clear case of hauntology in pop culture. Not just because capitalism creates the conditions in which nothing can ever be new, but because it’s never been more apparent that, as Francis Fukuyama would say, we’ve reached “the end of history.” Or, perhaps more accurately, the end of human history, with nothing new left to say or do, as made increasingly evident by offerings like “Sweet Relief.” Yet even with the AI infusion that’s been infiltrating (and likely to infiltrate all the more) art, the “bots” are only repurposing (e.g., getting AI versions of singer’s voices to sing songs by other musicians) just as much as Madison Beer, or anyone else of her generation. Those who are caught between showing contempt for the narrow-mindedness of the past while still romanticizing it because the present is so utterly dystopian.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Gen Z Laughs When You Use ‘Out of Pocket’ and These Emojis | Entrepreneur

    Gen Z Laughs When You Use ‘Out of Pocket’ and These Emojis | Entrepreneur

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    The generational language gap is nothing new — and it’s causing some comical misunderstandings in the workplace.

    Gen Z is amused when their millennial and boomer colleagues use the phrase “out of pocket” to signal they’ll be stepping away during the work day because it means something entirely different for the younger set, Insider reported.

    Related: 3 Ways Gen Z CEOs are Crushing Stereotypes | Entrepreneur

    What’s the disconnect? Gen Z uses “out of pocket” to describe something that’s “inappropriate or wild,” according to a “cringe quiz” for Gen-Z office speak fluency published by The Washington Post last year. In the context of the younger generation’s definition, people who use the phrase to express they have a dentist appointment are instead suggesting they’ll be creating chaos from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

    The Washington Post‘s quiz featured other generational communication divides, including the word “slay” (which basically translates to doing something really well) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, several emojis that can leave wires crossed.

    Gen Z uses the skull emoji to convey they’re dying from laughter, the smiley face with a mild grin to show they’re not really happy and the painting nails emoji to express a range of meanings — “sass, pettiness or nonchalant confidence,” Lieke Verheijen, assistant professor of communication at Radboud University in the Netherlands, told the outlet.

    Related: 5 Simple Tips for Incorporating Gen Z Into Your Workplace

    Ending a sentence with a period might also be misinterpreted.

    The period “has lost its original purpose because rather needing a symbol to indicate the end of a sentence, you can simply hit send on your message,” Gretchen McCulloch, linguist and author of the book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language, told NPR — so using it now “can indicate seriousness or a sense of finality.”

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    Amanda Breen

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  • More young adults are living at home across the U.S. Here’s why.

    More young adults are living at home across the U.S. Here’s why.

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    Younger adults in the U.S. are increasingly saying goodbye to their landlords and hello again to mom and dad. 

    According to a new survey from Harris Poll for Bloomberg, roughly 45% of people ages 18 to 29 are living at home with their families — the highest figure since the 1940s. More than 60% of Gen-Zers and millennials reported moving back home in the past two years, according to the poll, often because of financial challenges. 

    Moving back with their parents is a choice many are making these days as they grapple with high housing costs, heavy student debt, inflation and the kind of broader economic precariousness that has increasingly weighed on younger people in recent years. 

    The top reason for returning home, at more than 40%, is to save money, Harris found. In addition, 30% of respondents said they are staying with family members because they can’t afford to live on their own. Other factors included paying down debt (19%), recovering financially from emergency costs (16%) and losing a job (10%), according to the survey.  

    The poll, conducted online in August, includes responses from more than 4,000 U.S. adults, including 329 people ages 18 to 29.

    To be sure, young people aren’t the only ones struggling with a range of financial challenges. According to Harris, 81% of respondents of any age agree that reaching financial security is more difficult today than it was 20 years ago. But 74% of those surveyed agree that younger Americans face a “broken economic situation that prevents them from being financially successful,” the survey found. 


    Are baby boomers pushing millennials out of the housing market?

    05:48

    As many Gen-Zers and millennials move back in with their parents, attitudes toward living with family members are also shifting. According to the survey, 40% of young people reported feeling happy to be living at home, while 33% said they felt smart for making the choice to live with family. 

    In addition, a large majority of respondents reported they were sympathetic toward those who choose to live with their families, with 87% saying they think people shouldn’t be judged for living at home.  

    Baby boomers recently surpassed millennials as the largest share of U.S. homebuyers. Boomers, ages 58 – 76, made up 39% of home buyers in 2022, compared with 28% for millennials, according to March data from the National Association of Realtors. That’s an increase from 29% last year and the highest percentage of any generation. 

    Rent has also steadily climbed, rising more than 18% since 2020. As of August, the median rent across the U.S. hovered around a record-high of $2,052 per month, according to Rent.com.

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  • Millennials Leading Transition From Country Clubs To Social Clubs

    Millennials Leading Transition From Country Clubs To Social Clubs

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    Given the size of their enormous cohort, Millennials wield incredible clout to change society. Since maturing into young adults, they’ve been fingered as culprits behind the demise of a great many societal habits and norms, from the donning of business suits and the shopping of department stores to the use of banks and golf clubs.

    Given that last item, they’re not surprisingly also being named the guilty parties in the slow death of U.S. country clubs. In the place of sport-centric, niche settings, however, Millennials are embracing a new phenomenon. That is the emergence of members-only social clubs catering to varying, often active and outdoorsy, interests and demographics.

    As one-time country clubs are repurposed into social clubs, several design trends are emerging. Because members value experiences above all, a broad array of food and beverage offerings and the correct culinary experience are essential. Social clubs also are seen as places where members can partake of work-ready spaces allowing them to work as hard as they play. Finally, social clubs take advantage of the natural world around them to serve up fitness activities ranging from trail running to skiing.

    Retrofit hurdles

    Officials of architectural firms tackling the conversion of country clubs to social clubs understand this is an undertaking with no shortage of headwinds.

    “Any time you’re adapting a space once used for something else, you’re going to encounter challenges,” says Rebecca Stone, AIA, LEED BD+C with Denver, Colo.-based OZ Architecture, a firm involved in several such conversions.

    “Layout updates are often needed to bring the flow of these spaces into current guest and operations expectations. For example, many country clubs had very formal dining rooms and today this experience is more open, activated with the bar, and flows indoor to outdoor. Despite the challenges, we also find a lot of inspiration in adaptive reuse projects. Outdated or historic properties can often be a source of some really fun, quirky ideas and inspiration for designers.”

    Examples of today’s members-only social clubs include the following. Designed by OZ Architecture, Gravity Haus in Aspen, Colo. is a social club designed for mountain-loving outdoor enthusiasts who like access to premium gear and expert-led fitness programs.

    Park House Dallas is a private social club that provides curated experiences within a modern social setting designed by architecture and interior design study Droese Raney, which focuses upon commercial, hospitality and retail projects nationwide.

    HEIMAT, in Los Angeles, is a pioneering social club concept that incorporates fitness, exercise, wellness, fine dining and socialization. The club is designed by INCO STUDIO, focused upon motion design, corporate design and interior architecture.

    Design process

    It’s important for architectural firms to pinpoint the distinctive facets that make the property unique, whether they be part of the built environment or alternatively are qualities members believe intrinsic to the experience, Stone says. These elements become parts of the design story as expansion or renovation plans are outlined.

    “The goal of each property is very different, and as designers, we look to ensure that a strong sense of place is achieved for every project we touch,” Stone says, adding OZ team members of differing generations are encouraged to deliver their thoughts about the properties and projects upon which the firm is focused.

    “Gen Z and Millennials are changing the conversation around social clubs,” she concludes. “The outcome has been a significant trend toward creating active social spaces where members can work, play, work out, meet friends, relax and bring their families. Clubs are being positioned to serve a much deeper demographic than just golfers in the country clubs of old. And this new generation wants a more casual environment where all aspects of their lifestyles are wrapped in.”

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    Jeffrey Steele, Contributor

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  • Capture Millennial and Gen Z Flexible Payments and Connected Shopping Experiences | Entrepreneur

    Capture Millennial and Gen Z Flexible Payments and Connected Shopping Experiences | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    This story originally appeared on Readwrite.com

    Fast forward to 2029, and 72% of the global workforce will be dominated by Millennials and Gen Z, compared to 52% in 2019. With Millennials currently wielding an impressive $2.5 trillion USD in spending power and Gen Z representing an estimated $143 billion USD in annual purchasing power, the combined influence of these generations is transforming traditional business and payments models, forcing companies to adapt or risk being left behind.

    As the torchbearers of modern commerce, Millennials and Gen Z are reshaping how we shop. They effortlessly navigate between physical, digital, and virtual worlds and expect technology to keep pace by delivering seamless, integrated, and nearly invisible payment experiences across all touch points. This cohort craves convenience, personalization, and a frictionless checkout process that mirrors their fast-paced lives. 51% of Millennials and 48% of Gen Z will abandon a purchase if their favorite payment method isn’t available, making it crucial for businesses to offer a combination of payment methods options.

    From embedded payment links to open banking, the key to winning over Millennials and Gen Z lies in aligning your payment solution with their expectations. Here are five ways to effectively capture this dynamic duo’s demands for flexible payments and connected shopping experiences.

    1. Understand the Millennial and Gen Z mindset

    As digital-first generations, this cohort demands a uniform and seamless brand experience with personalization and comfort extending to their remote checkout. They routinely transact online, are familiar with 3D Secure and SCA steps (Strong Customer Authentication), and typically use a mobile banking app. 84% of Millennials and 78% of Gen Z have connected money-related apps to their financial accounts, and 79% have tried a new payment method in the past year. They want autonomy and flexibility when it comes to making payments – the freedom to make payments anytime, anywhere, and using any device.

    2. Facilitate flexibility and speed

    With the growth in social and live commerce, every touch point is an opportunity to turn a want into a purchase in just a few taps. 67% of Gen Z believe that automated payments will reduce time at checkout and enhance their overall shopping experience. Embedding pay-by-link capabilities directly into social media apps, providing the option to pay by card or open banking transfer in multiple currencies, and enabling automatic recurring payments for memberships and events are all ways in which businesses can unlock a world of convenience for this customer cohort, leading to increased satisfaction and brand loyalty.

    Related: AI Is Making Market Insights Accessible to Businesses of Any Size — Not Just the Big Names. Here’s How You Can Use It.

    Retailers can maximize payment success by offering a range of payment options through an advanced payment request platform that supports both card and open banking transfer and with features available to set chase paths, reminders, recurring payments, or send group payments, which is useful for credit control.

    3. Leverage payments innovation for an omnichannel shopping experience

    Millennials and Gen Z value a connected shopping experience seamlessly integrating physical stores, online platforms, and social media. This is even more vital for businesses that cannot easily transact online because the product or service needs to be more bespoke or custom to lend itself to self-selection. Such businesses require a solution that converts risky, time-consuming over-the-phone transactions into secure, convenient online payments.

    Innovation in remote payments can help merge the gap between digital and in-store interactions, allowing retailers to provide a unified, frictionless shopping journey that upholds brand values. 78% of Millennials and Gen Z view a brand’s commitment to innovation and new technologies as a decisive reason for purchasing an item, and 81% of customers expect a seamless and cohesive shopping experience across all channels.

    Related: Want to 10x Your Output? Follow These Focus and Achievement Hacks from Napoleon Hill’s ‘Think and Grow Rich’

    Millennials and Gen Z are hybrid shoppers who expect to simultaneously engage with brands through multiple channels. Merchants can facilitate smooth omnichannel retail experiences by implementing a payments solution that integrates seamlessly with their existing ERP/POS and payment gateways, enabling them to offer online, personal consultations and follow-up with 3D Secure, merchant-branded payment requests sent through SMS, email, WhatsApp, or web chat. Delighted customers who receive seamless, personalized offerings are keen to recommend the brand to friends and family and return to the brand in the future.

    4. Prioritize trust and security

    Sharing card details online and other sensitive banking information can make modern consumers uncomfortable and slow down the purchase process, which may have a negative impact on conversion rates. Merchants require a highly intuitive, mobile-friendly payment solution that gives customers control over their shopping experience.

    The ability to authorize and authenticate payments in a single tap from the safety and comfort of their mobile banking app, without sharing a sensitive card and bank details, provides a native payment journey that invokes trust. Implementing robust security measures like encryption and tokenization ensures customer data remains secure throughout the payment process. Communicating these measures further helps build trust and reassures them that their sensitive information is protected.

    5. Leverage data and analytics

    Effectively harnessing data to gain valuable insights is a competitive advantage. By adopting a payments solution that offers live tracking, reporting, and comprehensive analytics, businesses can better understand purchase patterns and preferred payment methods, allowing them to make data-driven decisions and build lasting relationships.

    Retailers have an opportunity to turn conversations about cart abandonments upside down and talk about payment success. It is possible to have payment success rates in excess of 90% when the above factors are taken into account. By quickly responding to consumer demands and paying attention to their needs, brands can thrive with the help of innovative and secure payment solutions.

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    Donal McGuinness

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  • Between Anitta’s “Use To Be” and Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young,” It Has to Be Asked: Are the Thirty-Something Women Okay, Perception-Wise?

    Between Anitta’s “Use To Be” and Miley Cyrus’ “Used To Be Young,” It Has to Be Asked: Are the Thirty-Something Women Okay, Perception-Wise?

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    There was a minute there when it seemed like society, or at least the representation of it through pop culture, had come a long way from reiterating the message that women are “dead” at thirty. Or, more accurately, their youth is. This was perhaps most succinctly encapsulated by Lily Allen’s 2009 track, “22,” on which she sings such chirpy lyrics as, “When she was twenty-two, the future looked bright/But she’s nearly thirty now and she’s out every night/I see that look in her face, she’s got that look in her eye/She’s thinking, ‘How did I get here?’ and wondering why.” This is followed by the chorus, “It’s sad, but it’s true how society says her life is already over.” And yes, it’s sad but it’s true how even “modern” women are still thinking this way. Especially if we’re to go on Anitta and Miley Cyrus’ latest single releases, both of which have the phrase “used to be” in them. A term that easily connotes some form of lament.

    For Anitta, she’s slightly less sad-sounding about the fact that she “used to be a ho” and now she “ain’t no more.” Because, if we’re to go by the accompanying music video’s narrative, she’s getting married, and she needs to put her former “ho life” ways to rest. Although Anitta might have had the masses thinking this could be about Simone Susinna for a brief second after being spotted with the Italian actor/model all over Europe, she soon after declared, “I’m not dating anyone, I’m single. I’ve always been single.” Or rather, a serial “dater” (read: fucker). Which puts her much more firmly in Selena Gomez’s camp, the latter having released “Single Soon” the same day as Miley’s divergently-themed “Used to Be Young.” But where thirty-one-year-old Gomez seems to be embracing her “single girl life” without a tinge of sadness just because she’s now “over the hill,” Anitta and Miley are patently entering their thirties with something like a white flag. Surrendering to the notion that they have to “grow up” and fall in line, adopting a more “zen” state that only “old ladies” can. Anitta conveys this through images of herself getting married so as to shirk her erstwhile life of ho-ish “sin.” Repenting in her chorus with the lines, “I used to be a ho, but now I ain’t no more/Been swimmin’ through the water, now I’m back to shore/I look at who I did and I’m like, ‘Oh, my Lord.’”

    In the first verse, Anitta then switches to Spanish, singing, “Una perra de raza muy dura de matar/Pero ahora soy mansa y ya no muerdo má’/Rompí mucho corazóne’ y a mí no me lo rompieron/Pero ya yo no quiero, ‘toy tranquila y ya.” The Spanish lyrics translate to, “A very tough breed [more specifically, breed of dog] to kill/But now I’m gentle and I don’t bite anymore/I broke a lot of hearts and they didn’t break mine/But I don’t want to anymore, I’m calm and that’s it.” As though a “switch” has been flipped within Anitta as a result of entering her thirties and now she’s decided it’s time to, as Selena Gomez (and her bestie, Taylor Swift, for that matter) also said, “Calm down.” Or “settle down,” as some prefer to call it. Because, despite all the work Madonna did to negate the idea that you’re expected to put yourself out to pasture by the age of forty, now it seems women are admitting even earlier to being “old” as opposed to “being a slut and doing whatever they want” at any age. As so many women who came before fought for them to be able to (though again, mainly Madonna…and Cher). 

    Instead, things feel like they’re going backwards vis-à-vis women and aging. For example, the existence of a recently-circulating meme featuring Margot Robbie with the phrase, “Life doesn’t end after thirty, she’s proof of that.” It makes one want to positively vomit. As though we need a thirty-something representation of Barbie to assure us that one’s thirties (as a woman, mind you) aren’t a death sentence. A form of thinking that is so fucking retro that we have to wonder if we’re even actually in the twenty-first century, and any progress has truly been made with regard to women’s viewpoints about their own age. Some, of course, will try to say that it’s actually “positive” for women to have candid conversations about getting older, but, once more, it has to be emphasized that talking about being old at thirty only serves to reinforce the false belief that youth is a commodity reserved strictly for teens and twenty-somethings when that simply isn’t the case. The adage, “You’re as young as you feel” ought to be brought up more regularly. Especially for a generation—millennials—that has been so often accused of having Peter Pan syndrome. Now, it seems, they’re only too willing to pass the youth torch on to banal Gen Z despite not being anywhere near “old” at all. Alas, not if we’re to go by the current trend in pop culture to brand people in their thirties and forties as “elderly.”

    Although there did seem to be a blip of evolution, the culprit for this regression toward branding thirty as “old” is, undeniably, TikTok, which is overrun by thirteen-year-olds who are the “tastemakers” of society at this moment (and possibly for the foreseeable future). So, of course, they’re going to view women in their thirties as “old,” never imagining that they themselves could reach that age from their cush vantage at thirteen. Ergo, the callous ability to come up with a trend based on Lana Del Rey’s “Young and Beautiful” that compares celebrity women in their current state to photos of them when they were younger, as though to highlight that their “jig is up” because they’ve committed the “sin” of aging. And yes, Madonna herself stated (with her sardonic tone) in a speech for the 2016 Billboard Women in Music Awards, “Do not age. Because to age is a sin. You will be criticized, you will be vilified, and you will definitely not be played on the radio.” Nor will you get as much film work if you’re an actress. Something Charlize Theron, at forty-eight, is starting to contend with as she, too, puts up a white flag and surrenders, “I’m old” the way Anitta and Miley seem to be alluding to already at the outset of their thirties. As though women themselves needed to give narrow-minded patriarchal perspectives about aging any more clout. And yes, it’s all still rooted in the primal idea that a woman is “old” once she’s not of “child-bearing age.” But with the advancement of science, we’ve seen that women can have children well beyond their thirties. Even if they’re not nearly as embraced for doing so as men like Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. To boot, with the rapid progress of cosmetic products and surgery, we’ve seen Aaliyah’s “age ain’t nothin’ but a number” aphorism realized. And both Anitta and Miley (but especially Anitta) have enjoyed their share of expensive ways to physically “enhance” themselves. 

    This is, in part, why it makes it even worse that they should go to all that trouble to stay looking young and yet still slap themselves with an “older now” demarcation. After all, “The confluence of celebrity culture and the ability to manipulate every casual selfie has created the sense that we are not meant to look old at all.” So why should women who look young cause a further mind fuck by declaring that they’re old? It just seems sort of counterproductive to a positive self-perception. Because when the likes of Anitta and Miley arrive in their forties and fifties, what will they say about themselves then? That they’re crypt-keepers? And all while women who are actually in their forties and fifties work far harder to appear in Anitta and Miley’s age bracket. Including someone like Kylie Minogue, whose recent hit, “Padam Padam,” highlights lyrics that are decidedly “too youthful” for a woman in her mid-fifties. Meanwhile, Anitta and Miley are looking the gift horse of their youth in the mouth by casually writing it off as being “old.” With Cyrus essentially insisting that she can no longer be “crazy” or “fun” because those things have been buried with the teen and twenty-something Miley. As though all such traces of “wildness” ought to be if a girl is to “transcend” fully into a woman (not that Britney ever chose to, still overtly holding on to what she said long ago, “I’m not a girl, not yet a woman”). 

    Maybe Cyrus thinks she’s doing a service to the women her age by “mourning the loss of her youth” at thirty, giving them permission to finally “mature” and “let go of childish things” such as drinking, drugging and ho’ing (as Anitta more or less calls it). But, in the end, it serves to underscore the already damaging idea that only those who are “Lolita age” can be classified as young (and yes, that entails fairly perverse implications about our society).

    Carrie Bradshaw, who existed most potently in the 00s—a time now known for its deeply problematic worldviews—once said to Samantha Jones, “It’s time for ladies my age to start covering it up. We can’t get away with the same stuff we used to” (cue Madonna gyrating to “Hung Up” in a leotard in her fifties as a big “fuck you” to that statement). And “getting away” with such “stuff” is only going to be made even more of a challenge for those women who don’t want to “button up at thirty” thanks to vibrant thirty-year-old women like Anitta and Miley playing up the notion of being “aged” once a girl’s twenties have concluded. 

    Like her aforementioned contemporary, Lily Allen, Amy Winehouse also had her own choice words for “sad women” that dared to turn thirty. And they appear via the lyrics, “Don’t get mad at me ‘cause you’re pushin’ thirty, and your old tricks no longer work” (Winehouse, as we know, wouldn’t live to thirty herself to find out). Perhaps still taking such a message to heart, Anitta and Miley are using the “trick” of running an offense on being automatically perceived as “irrelevant” just because they’ve hit their thirties. A maneuver that itself seeks to make it harder for other women (even “normal” ones in addition to famous ones) to be seen as relevant just because their birth year is no longer keeping them in the “right” decade.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • It’s taking Americans much longer in life to buy their first home

    It’s taking Americans much longer in life to buy their first home

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    The typical age to buy a first home has jumped to 36 years old, the oldest ever on record. The rising age is a sign that high housing costs and mortgage rates are pushing homeownership out of reach for younger Americans.

    In 2021, the typical first-time homebuyer was 33, according to 2022 data from the National Association of Realtors. Two years and one price surge, an inventory shortage and more than 10 Fed rate hikes later, that median age has gone up by three years, as the dream of home ownership becomes more distant for millennials.

    “There’s no getting around how tough buying a home can be in today’s high-interest rates and high-price housing market,” Jacob Channel, senior economist at LendingTree said Tuesday.

    Baby boomers recently edged out millennials as the largest share of homebuyers. Boomers, ages 58 – 76, made up 39% of home buyers in 2022, compared with 28% for millennials, according to NAR data from March. That’s an increase from 29% last year and the highest percentage of any generation. 

    “[Baby boomers] have built housing equity over their working lives, and they have been able to build wealth, and now they’re buying their dream vacation home or their second home,” Washington Post business reporter Julian Mark told CBS News.  “They just have more money.”


    Loan rejection rates on the rise, New York Fed says

    06:15

    One economic downturn after another

    Millennials, born between 1980 and 2000, have been dealt a far different set of circumstances. From the dot-com bubble burst in 2000 to the Great Recession of 2008 and, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic, millennials “have been hit with one recession after the next” since entering the workforce, Mark noted. 

     “Especially the Great Recession, was very hard on millennials for wage growth and that has essentially stunted their ability to meet major milestones like home ownership,” he said.

    With three major downturns in their rear view mirror, millennials now face a challenging housing market in which fewer homes are available for sale, asking prices are more expensive, and interest rates have climbed past 7.1%. The national median home price hit $402,600 in July, up from $359,000 at the start of 2023; the typical mortgage on a single-family home is now $2,051 compared with $1,837 a year ago, according  to NAR.


    Interest rate “lock-ins” leading to fewer available homes

    03:49

    Mortgage rates have jumped so much that some real estate agents have started advising their clients to buy the home and wait for interest rates to fall to refinance — described by the industry phrase “Marry the house, date the rate.” That strategy may be “somewhat reasonable,” Mark said,”but you have to be prepared to pay those interest rates perhaps forever because it’s unclear when they will drop and by how much,” he said. 

    Where’s the hope?

    “As tough as it may seem, those who want to buy, but can’t afford to right now, should try to keep hope,” Channel said.

    But that’s proving to be difficult. Roughly half of Americans who dream of owning a house one day worry they never will, a LendingTree survey found. 


    Mortgage transfers helping homebuyers get lower rates

    04:27

    “Perhaps home ownership is not necessarily the fastest track to building wealth,” suggested Mark. 

    “Perhaps it is renting and using that money that you were planning to put on a downpayment — maybe just invest it into the stock market or the money market or any other safer investment that will have some type of steady yield instead of the theoretical appreciation of a home,” he said.

    Khristopher J. Brooks

    Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.

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  • The Beanie Bubble Reminds That The Ultimate Childhood Toy for Millennials Was Also the Ultimate Representation of What It Is to Be Millennial

    The Beanie Bubble Reminds That The Ultimate Childhood Toy for Millennials Was Also the Ultimate Representation of What It Is to Be Millennial

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    Perhaps what strikes one the most about The Beanie Bubble isn’t pulling back the curtain behind the “Wizard of Beanie Babies,” Ty Warner, and finding out he was a huge asshole, but rather, the realization of just how millennial the plush toys really were. This doesn’t pertain to the actual era during which they came out, so much as the “toys” being a reflection of what it already meant to be millennial, even (/especially) at tender preteen ages. The fact that even something as theoretically pure as “toys” suddenly had to be slapped with the purpose of “getting a return on one’s investment” couldn’t be more millennial by nature. Having the thing for the sake of having it simply wasn’t an option. It had to “give something back.” Just as millennial children were expected to. And yes, as Malcolm Harris notes in Kids These Days: The Making of Millennials, this was the first generation of children treated this way. As human capital.

    Look to none other than their baby boomer parents for a large part of that reason. The parents who wanted to ensure that their children had nothing but the best and never endured any amount of previously unavoidable pain whatsoever (hence, helicopter parenting). Their childhoods were going to be different. Safer. No playing outside for hours at a time until dinner. No, no. Now, that time had to be accounted for. Monitored. Monetizable (at least somewhere down the line).

    And there’s always more time for self-improvement over “useless” play. This factoring into why Beanie Babies certainly shouldn’t be viewed as actual toys to play with. Gasp! That was a scandalous thought after realizing they were actually laden with value. At times, hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of value. So it is that the book The Beanie Bubble is based on, The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute (written by none other than a millennial), reminds that it “had turned into a craze that was the twentieth-century American version of the tulip bubble in 1630s Holland.” It, too, was described as a “mania.” Tulip mania.

    To that end, the precursor to The Beanie Bubble, a 2021 documentary called Beanie Mania, highlights the ways in which boomer parents took something theoretically innocent and fun, and then turned it into something that more closely resembled a chore, an obligation. A means to secure one’s future. In said documentary, a former Beanie-loving child named Michelle makes that apparent when she says, “…it became a multiple trip, do what we can, keep going until you were tired, until there were no other stores in the area that might have what we’re looking for. And then my mom took that to an extreme and it quickly became her thing over mine.”

    The obsession, on the parents’ part, with collecting as many Beanies as possible ultimately had more to do with “winning” at toy-owning/ensuring their child had the best of everything, than it did with “having fun.” For nothing about being a millennial child was ever about just having fun. All of it had to be in service for some “greater purpose.” Some higher aim in service of the competition called life. Something, in the end, that would create a “market bubble” among the buying and selling of millennials themselves. For if every millennial was trained in the same proverbial school of “Be the Best,” it creates a greater likelihood for children (and the adults they become) to be rejected by the various institutions that know “everyone” is both the crème de la crème and willing to work at maximum capacity for minimal payment. That’s what they learned in school, after all. Where “the pedagogical mask,” as Harris refers to it, is meant to conceal that what the children are actually doing is training for a life of unpaid labor (with such labor eventually billed as “just part of the job”), the great Beanie Baby race was a study in how to turn a quick profit. All by asking of a child the one thing you never should: don’t play with your toys.

    What could be a more “reasonable” ask of a generation where competition over things that were formerly innocent had never been at a higher level? As Harris remarks over the retooled school structure of the 90s, “[It’s] built around hypercompetition, from first period, to extracurricular activities, to homework, to the video games kids play when they have a minute of downtime. It’s not a coincidence—none of it. The growth of growth requires lots of different kinds of hard work, and millennials are built for it.” Not just because they’ve been conditioned to expect putting in hours of work with little given back in return, but because they’re the first generation that was taught to always be “plugged in.” To the matrix, that is. Always available, therefore always ready for any opportunity that might arise. Like a higher bidding price on eBay. The famed auction site that aligned with the rise of the secondary market for Beanie Babies. A secondary market that served as a collector’s wet dream. And yes, the entire driving force behind the rise and popularity of Beanie Babies were the collectors. Originally just a group of “cul-de-sac moms” from Naperville, Illinois. Meaning that, perhaps for the only time in history, the Midwest was ahead of the trend curve before everyone else. 

    Dave Sobolewski, the middle child of one of the “original Beanie Ladies,” Mary Beth, himself comes across as a quintessential millennial, simply shrugging off the absurdity with his assessment of market bubbles while also finding the time to flex, “My background, my education, my profession, it’s all finance. Beanie Babies is a case study in just how a few people pushing an idea and enthusiasm…crazy things can happen.” Spoken like someone who has never reckoned with the traumatic experience of being a millennial. Manipulated for profit in much the same manner as Beanie Babies until millennials’ own bubble burst. Instead, Dave writes off the unhinged fanaticism as: “Without the few women that started the entire mania, Beanie Babies never would have been.” It bears mentioning, to be sure, that the women who started it were all white and middle-class, and many of them held formerly high-powered jobs before giving it up to be a “full-time mom” (as though you can’t be that regardless of having a paid job) in the cul-de-sac. Undoubtedly, it sounds a lot like the plot to The Stepford Wives. And maybe there was something “automaton-esque” about their obsession. More, more, more. Feed, feed, feed.

    All of this, in the end, being the philosophy that trickled down to their millennial children, who would not have the benefit of experiencing adulthood in an epoch that allowed for such ease of moneymaking as the boomers did. Ty Warner (played by Zach Galifianakis) himself being such an example of someone who continuously “fell into” money. In large part due to the women he surrounded himself with. Women who are finally given some credit in The Beanie Bubble, structured in an “all over the place” way (that many critics included in part of their panning) to show the different time periods in which Warner was most reliant on them. Patricia Roche was the first on Warner’s list of Women to Fuck Over. Helping him to establish the business, there’s no denying she was instrumental in the initial years of Ty Inc.’s success before Beanie Babies. In the movie, she becomes “Robbie Jones” (played by Elizabeth Banks), while Faith McGowan, his second serious girlfriend, becomes Sheila (Sarah Snook). But the woman he arguably took the most advantage of wasn’t even someone he was dating.

    Instead, it was college student Lina Trivedi, who worked there for twelve dollars an hour from 1992 to 1998 despite the fact that she was the direct cause of the many millions (then billions) of dollars the company would go on to make. In no small part because of her suggestion to implement the use of this thing called “The Internet.” In fact, Ty Inc. was surprisingly ahead of the game on the ways in which the internet could be used. From checking out product information to serving as a place for collectors to connect, Trivedi was the brainchild behind all of that. 

    And the boomers were ready to absorb the technology. This being what amplified and blew up Beanie Mania into pure frenzy. As Joni Hirsch-Blackman in Beanie Mania puts it, “It was a really nice thing for a while…till the adults ruined it.” At least some adults can admit that much. Though they can’t seem to admit that everything about Beanie Baby fever was fueled from a middle-class perspective, with no regard for what else was actually going on in the world (or the havoc they would ultimately wreak upon people’s lives by creating this speculative market). To that point, Joni also foolishly declares, “I think of the 90s as sort of frivolous.” From that skewed view (one that ignores things like the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, the first World Trade Center bombing attempt, the Unabomber, the rise of school shootings, etc.), it left room for the frivolousness of collecting (again, if you were white and middle-class).

    As the early days of trolling for Beanie Babies gave way to something far darker, Joni could admit that the taint was starting to settle in fast on what was once meant to be a child’s toy. However, as she remarks, “This was becoming something different. We don’t play with these things because they’re gonna be worth money. If the tag was creased, you’d ruin the value of your Beanie.” To reiterate, this is decidedly “millennial thinking.” Or rather, the thinking that millennials were inculcated with. Always search for the next hustle, the next scam, the next “get rich quick” scheme. All without seeming to realize that “legitimate” jobs require just as much time and effort as the so-called easy way out. Then, of course, there was all the waste that arose from the obsession with collecting. Not least of which was the McDonald’s collaboration that resulted in “Teenie Beanies,” prompting consumers to just throw away the food after buying excessive amounts of Happy Meals to complete their set. At the height of the fervor in 1998, various fights and thefts would break out at McDonald’s locations across the U.S., necessitating police involvement. The fixation on these bean-filled sacks shaped as animals being of high value meant that, suddenly, the market seemed to be filled solely with sellers. Sellers who were starting to get fed up with the secondary market when inventory wasn’t being unloaded so quickly, or for as much as it had in the past when the bubble started to burst around 1999. 

    Sensing the imminent doom, Warner pulled a stunt announcing Beanie Babies would be discontinued after December 31, 1999 (appropriate, considering their demise would be after the 90s ended anyway). Then, after a buying spike, he polled the collectors (by charging them to vote on the website) if they wanted Beanies to stay—after he had already ratcheted up the demand again in the wake of that “to be discontinued” announcement. This doesn’t make it into The Beanie Bubble, though what comes across overall is that there is no “genius” behind the curtain. In Beanie Mania, Ty even is referred to as the Wizard of Oz. An emperor with no clothes, as it were. Sure, he could be billed as the “eccentric heart” of the designs, but, in the end, he would have been nothing without the women behind him. This was a key element that writer Kristin Gore (that’s right, the daughter of 90s vice president, Al), wanted to convey. Co-directed with her husband, Damian Kulash, The Beanie Bubble does just that. And, although known to many as the lead singer for OK Go, Kulash seems uniquely qualified to co-direct the movie as he contributed a story to a book called Things I’ve Learnt from Women Who’ve Dumped Me. Would that Ty Warner had learned anything from the women who dumped him, least of all humility. And an understanding that his success was a direct result of the rigged system that continues to favor white men. 

    Per Gore on writing the script, “We’ve talked a lot about how there’s this myth of a lone male genius coming up with things. You see it over and over again, benefiting from a system that’s rigged for him and against everyone else. And we wanted to peel back those layers and look at that myth and really show what everyone knows, which is that there’s always so much more to that story. There are always so many more people involved.” In the case of the millennial mentality that insists, “Always be driven, always be competing…with the potential for no payout,” that, too, had many people involved. From the government to parents and, yes, to corporations like Ty Inc.

    What The Beanie Bubble also wants to remind people of is how ugly capitalism makes us. Which is why the film opens with that illustrious truck crash scene (which is, needless to say, hyper-stylized), wherein boxes of Beanies go flying and everyone on the highway starts picking at the remains like vultures. In Beanie Mania, Mary Beth blithely sums a scene like this up with, “The collector’s mentality is that you can never have enough.” But the sentence Mary Beth was really looking for was: “The American consumer’s mentality is that you can never have enough.” And you have to be willing to claw and compete at any (literal) cost to get it. That’s what millennials learned. Yet they’re still somehow shocked that none of their unpaid labor (starting at the school level) has yielded a substantial return.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • The Preeminent Question Presented By No Hard Feelings: “Doesn’t Anyone FUCK Anymore?!”

    The Preeminent Question Presented By No Hard Feelings: “Doesn’t Anyone FUCK Anymore?!”

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    Perhaps if there is one key aim of No Hard Feelings (apart from being 2023’s answer to a “sex” comedy), it’s to highlight the flaccidity of a generation. While millennials endured their fair share of being called “snowflakes,” that derisive epithet has shifted squarely onto the shoulders of Gen Z—tenfold. Particularly as their “kind” is the first to be known for having less sex than their forebears. Not so coincidentally, the documented decline in mental health seems to have coincided with the documented decline in an interest in sex. Based on what we see in Gene Stupnitsky’s latest film, it’s clear Gen Z’s sanity and self-confidence could be greatly boosted if they seemed to better understand what Alex Comfort would call the joy of sex.

    Alas, for Percy Becker (Andrew Barth Feldman), that understanding is a long way off. “Luckily,” there to nudge it along are what the movie’s summary bills as his “helicopter parents,” Laird (Matthew Broderick) and Allison (Laura Benanti). Though, if we’re venturing out of millennial territory, the more appropriate term for what Gen Z has are lawnmower parents. A breed that, although similar to the hovering-over-every-action helicopter parents, actually goes so far as to mow down every obstacle in their children’s way. Which has been the case for Percy his entire life. This being the driving force behind why they post a Craigslist ad (again, a very millennial medium) seeking a girl in her early to mid-twenties to “date” their son—the running joke of a euphemism that the audience is meant to easily interpret as “fuck.” In other words, they want someone to “date the shit out of” their son so that he’ll finally come out of his shell. The little sexually awkward hermit crab that he is.

    At the same time, Maddie Barker’s (Jennifer Lawrence) circumstances have aligned to become the lone “girl” who might take the ad seriously/be up for what it requires (that is to say, actually “opening Percy up”). For, as the movie commences with one of her many exes pulling up to her house in Montauk (because yes, this is the first real “Montauk movie”—unless one counts Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), it’s apparent that things are financially dire. Confirmed by that ex, Gary (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), also happening to be a tow truck driver who has been tasked with repossessing her car.

    Freaking out about losing a key source of her additional income (being an Uber driver does, to be sure, require a car), Maddie proceeds to funnel her rage toward the “summer people” that have been ruining Montauk for true locals for decades. And if you were wondering how she herself got her cush abode, it belonged to her mother…who got it, in turn, as a form of “hush property” from Maddie’s absentee father. A man who had an affair with Maddie’s mother while keeping his “real family” in the city. This is the type of complicated quagmire a cocooned, affluent Gen Zer like Percy could never understand. And yet, Maddie goes into the job under the misguided notion that she can treat a member of Gen Z anything close to how she would a millennial. Because, though the years that separate the generations aren’t that many, the divide is vast.

    Take, for instance, Maddie’s initial approach to Percy, instructed by his parents to manufacture a “meet cute” with him at the animal shelter where he volunteers. Percy conveniently happens to be holding a wiener dog in his arms so that Maddie can deliver the solid-gold line, “Can I touch your wiener?” Percy is more frazzled than aroused by Maddie’s sexed-up appearance and subtle-as-a-car-crash flirting techniques. And that feeling only intensifies when, in his mind, it seems as though Maddie is trying to kidnap him when she offers to give him a ride home.

    Ending up at her house instead, Percy sprays her in the face with pepper spray as she demands, “Why couldn’t you have used your rape whistle instead?” “Why would I have a rape whistle?” he replies. She tells him that the better question is, why would he have mace? The answer, needless to say, is that this lily-livered generation is so afraid of their own shadow, so riddled with the anxieties of potential danger lurking everywhere that of course they wouldn’t leave the house unarmed. If they leave the house at all. Percy certainly never seems to. Until Maddie comes along. Because, quelle surprise, in spite of the mace snafu, Percy is coerced into asking her on a date.

    When Maddie arranges for him to meet her at the bar she usually frequents, it results in not only running into yet another one of her “exes” (i.e., flings), but a discussion about what Hall and Oates’ “Maneater” is actually saying. All Percy knows is, the lyrical content terrified him as a child. While he took the description more literally to mean some kind of monster only comes out at night, Maddie breaks it to him that, no, that’s not what the song is about. Though, to be fair, it’s not really about a sexually appetitive woman either, with John Oates explaining that it’s actually about “NYC in the 80s. It’s about greed, avarice, and spoiled riches. But we have it in the setting of a girl because it’s more relatable. It’s something that people can understand.” Unless they’re Percy or any other Gen Z male, who doesn’t know the first thing about how to “activate” a woman (that said, in a pre-Gen Z era of movies, Percy probably would have just been written off as gay as opposed to “emotionally delicate”).

    Nonetheless, Maddie performs every cliché trick in the book to entice him, still not yet registering that he needs to be “dealt with” in a manner that speaks his own sexually repressed language. Before Maddie realizes that, she wastes her time seducing him with the millennial classic known as Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” complete with booty-popping that ultimately falls on blind eyes as he comments on how she feels a little heavy on his legs. Although one would think their total lack of sexual chemistry might have put Percy off of Maddie by now (whereas Maddie has no choice but to stay the course if she wants her vehicular compensation), the reality is, she’s the form of connection he’s been craving. Isolating himself from his peers after transferring to a new school in the wake of a nasty rumor about how he has sex with his parents (this snowballing from the fact that he still slept in the same room as them now and again), Percy has deliberately kept his distance from others. Chosen to blend in to avoid being noticed, therefore perceived and judged at all.

    Despite Maddie and Percy’s generational divide, this is one thing they can easily relate to with each other: putting up walls to keep anyone from getting too close. Granted, Maddie at least has an age-appropriate best friend named Sarah (Natalie Morales), who comes as a set with her boyfriend/soon-to-be father of her child, Jim (Scott MacArthur). In fact, they’re the ones who urged her to respond to the Craigslist ad in the first place. What with the payment just so happening to be the car replacement she needs to keep working her side hustle (heaven forbid the payment could be actual, real money; rich people, after all, only keep their wealth by not sharing it in any profound way).

    By the end of that first date, though, Maddie is wishing she never bothered as she’s forced to take matters into her own hands when a group of teenagers steal their clothes from the beach (somehow, she had managed to convince Percy to go skinny dipping with her). Because, obviously, Percy isn’t going to do a thing to stop them—a point she calls out when he gets “spooked” by how she attacked them while completely naked (this patently being part of a CGI wonder). Berating him for being incapable of taking action or making decisions for himself without the presumed sanction of an “adult” (she reminds him that he’s one, too), she finally tells him that she feels sorry for him. As it is easy to do for a generation that grew up so fundamentally sheltered despite being exposed to just about every depraved thing imaginable through the lens of a screen (read: the internet).

    And part of that pity flares up again toward the end of the movie’s second act, as Maddie goes from room to room at a rich person’s house party in search of Percy, seeing that, in each one, the youths are doing nothing more than frittering the time away on their phones or with a VR headset. So frustrated by the sight of such flaccidity (which has been compounded by her weeks spent with Percy), she finally cries out, “Doesn’t anyone fuck anymore?” The answer clearly being a resounding no. Not even in a sex comedy. For, expectedly, when Maddie and Percy finally do “consummate” their relationship, the visual result is even more lackluster than one would expect.

    Regardless, No Hard Feelings has been celebrated as an “old-school raunch fest with plenty of laughs.” Yet it’s apparent that the movie isn’t exactly that at all. For it knows it can’t dare to go in the same territory as erstwhile benchmarks of previous raunch comedies like, say, Porky’s. Or even Weird Science and Revenge of the Nerds. All of which focus on male teens at a time when they weren’t all so, well, incel-esque.

    As a member of Gen X, Stupnitsky (who cowrote the script with John Phillips) perhaps not only possesses a different layer of objectivity regarding the dynamic between millennials and Gen Zers who are even less physically and emotionally equipped than the former, but also certainly understands the finer points of malaise and suffering (being Ukrainian helps with that, too). All while managing to incorporate sex (or the “suggestion” of it) into that cocktail of growing pains misery. Because sex is what helps keep most people from going completely insane. That is, most people who aren’t part of Gen Z. But the lack of intense interest in it on their part is built into the title—having no hard feelings (a.k.a. erections) because it’s difficult to do that when all feelings whatsoever are numbed out to begin with.

    Does No Hard Feelings go to the same lengths of raunch in getting that message across as Fast Times at Ridgemont High or There’s Something About Mary, or even Superbad? No. But such are the fragile Gen Z-geared times we live in.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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  • Gen Z and Millennials are scrimping. Boomers? Living it up | CNN Business

    Gen Z and Millennials are scrimping. Boomers? Living it up | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN Business
     — 

    Baby Boomers are living it up, splurging on cruises and restaurants. Younger Americans are struggling just to keep up.

    Bank of America internal data shows a “significant gap” in spending has opened recently between older and younger generations.

    While Baby Boomers and even Traditionalists (born 1928-1945) are ramping up spending, Gen X, Gen Z and Millennials are cutting back as they grapple with high housing costs and looming student debt payments.

    “It’s fairly unusual,” David Tinsley, senior economist at the Bank of America Institute, told CNN in a phone interview.

    Overall, household spending dipped 0.2% year-over-year in May, according to the bank’s card data — but the generational breakdown showed a more varied picture.

    Spending increased by 5.3% for Traditionalists and 2.2% for Baby Boomers. In contrast, spending fell by about 1.5% for younger generations.

    If not for the aggressive spending by Boomers, Tinsley said, overall consumer spending would have been even more negative.

    So, what is going on?

    Older Americans are ramping up spending as they benefit from a spike in Social Security payments.

    Starting in January, Social Security recipients received an 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment, the biggest increase since 1981. That increase — caused directly by high inflation — is boosting the average retirees’ monthly payments by an estimated $146.

    Bank of America spending data shows a noticeable bump in spending by households that received the cost-of-living boost.

    However, the bank noticed the spending surge by older Americans is happening among high-income households too. And those consumers are less likely to be impacted by the spike in Social Security payments.

    “That can’t be the whole story,” Tinsley said of the cost-of-living adjustments.

    To explain the drop in spending by younger Americans, Bank of America pointed to high housing costs. In recent years, rental rates spiked, home prices soared and mortgage rates surged.

    Younger Americans are also much more likely to move than older ones.

    “The people who do move are really facing quite significant cost increases,” said Tinsley.

    Bank of America has noted that older consumers are spending on travel, including hotels, airfare and cruises, now that the Covid emergency is over.

    Due to Covid fears, older generations held back on travel during the pandemic, but now they are “splurging,” Tinsley said.

    Beyond the high cost of living, Bank of America said many younger Americans are also likely bracing for the return of a significant monthly expense: student debt.

    The bipartisan debt ceiling deal included a provision that specifically prevented the Biden administration from extending the pause on federal student loan payments.

    The student debt freeze, in effect since March 2020 when the Covid pandemic erupted, is expected to conclude by the end of August.

    That is particularly painful to younger consumers. Americans are sitting on $1.6 trillion of student debt, according to the New York Federal Reserve, and the vast majority of that student debt is held by those under the age of 49.

    For millions of Gen Z and Millennials, the return of student debt payments will mean less money for spending on restaurants and vacations.

    Some consumers may be starting to pull back on spending ahead of that change, Tinsley said: “It’s coming down the tracks pretty fast now.”

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  • Share of six-figure earners living paycheck to paycheck jumps, report finds. Advisor offers ways to break the cycle

    Share of six-figure earners living paycheck to paycheck jumps, report finds. Advisor offers ways to break the cycle

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    Where you live determines your financial standing

    Depending on where you live, $100,000 may not stretch that far, according to Anuj Nayar, LendingClub’s financial health officer.

    A separate report by SmartAsset analyzed how far six figures will go in America’s 25 largest cities. In New York, for example, $100,000 amounts to just $35,791 after accounting for taxes and the high cost of living. 

    In contrast, a six-figure salary is worth much more in Memphis — roughly the equivalent of $86,444 due to a lower cost of living and no state income tax. (Here’s a breakdown of how much you need to earn to afford to live in the country’s most popular cities.)

    Colorful cafe bars at the iconic Beale Street music and entertainment district of downtown Memphis, Tennessee.

    benedek | iStock | Getty Images

    In general, 69% of city dwellers live paycheck to paycheck, 25% more than their suburban counterparts, LendingClub found.

    “While income is obviously a major factor, where you live appears to be almost equally important in factoring whether a consumer is living paycheck to paycheck,” Nayar said.

    Along with surging mortgage rates and home prices, rents are still higher in many cities across the country, according to the latest data from rental listings site Rent.com. 

    How to determine if you should rent or buy in the current real estate market

    As of last month, 29 of the 50 most populous U.S. cities notched year-over-year rent increases, Rent.com found.

    Compared to two years ago, rents have jumped more than 16% — that’s the equivalent of a $275 increase in monthly rent bills, according to Jon Leckie, researcher for Rent.

    “That kind of growth over such a short period of time is going to put a lot of pressure on pocket books.”

    How to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle

    High earners and urbanites are often susceptible to “lifestyle creep,” said CFP Carolyn McClanahan, founder of Life Planning Partners in Jacksonville, Florida. 

    As consumers earn more, they spend more, she said, particularly on eating out or deliveries through DoorDash, as well as additional subscription services. It’s easy to “fall into the trap of too much convenience spending.”

    To break the cycle, “the first thing to do is look at convenience spending and figure out ways to cut the spending that is not bringing them value,” said McClanahan, who also is a member of CNBC’s Advisor Council. 

    “Immediately divert that money to savings to create an emergency fund.” Once you have three to six month set aside, “start saving more for other goals.”

    Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube.

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  • Nearly three-quarters U.S. millennials live paycheck to paycheck, survey shows

    Nearly three-quarters U.S. millennials live paycheck to paycheck, survey shows

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    About 7 in 10 millennials in the U.S. are living paycheck to paycheck, with many struggling to pay off their bills every month, a new survey shows.

    The main reasons for millennials’ financial distress is heavy debt and the financial pressure of having to look after dependent family members, according to the survey from personal finance site Pymnts and LendingClub, an online lender. 

    By comparison, about half of baby boomers live paycheck to paycheck, compared to 64% of Gen Xers and 66% of Gen Z. Across all age groups, 60% of U.S. adults live paycheck to paycheck, down from 64% during this same period last year, Pymnts said. 

    The U.S. has more than 92 million millennials, meaning the age groups accounts for more than a quarter of the American population. History has not been kind to this generation: They have lived through three recessions — the sharp downturns that followed the 2001 dotcom crash, 2008 housing bust and 2020 coronavirus pandemic. As a result, millennials have faced the worst economic conditions of any generation in U.S. history, the Washington Post reported. 

    Older millennials are racking up debt faster than any other generation, accounting for $4 trillion owed as of February, according to New York Federal Reserve data. A Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis study found that Black millennials in particular are less wealthy than their baby boomer parents at that comparable age and are also falling well behind their White and Hispanic millennial peers in building net worth. 


    Why millennials might react to midlife crises differently than previous generations

    07:55

    Millennials are also putting off major financial milestones like buying a home or saving for retirement because of crippling student loan debt. 

    Despite those woes, millennials say they’re saving more money these days, according to Pymnts. Millennial respondents to the survey reported $11,000 socked away on average last month compared to $7,300 a year ago. 

    “This suggests that, like other paycheck-to-paycheck consumers, they have learned to manage their finances through multiple recessions and financial crises,” the survey stated.

    Khristopher J. Brooks

    Khristopher J. Brooks is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering business, consumer and financial stories that range from economic inequality and housing issues to bankruptcies and the business of sports.

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  • Rent or buy? Here’s how to make that decision in the current real estate market

    Rent or buy? Here’s how to make that decision in the current real estate market

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    Choosing whether to rent or buy has never been a simple decision — and this ever-changing housing market isn’t making it any easier. With surging mortgage rates, record rents and home prices, a potential economic downturn and other lifestyle considerations, there’s so much to factor in.

    “This is an extraordinarily unique market because of the pandemic and because there was such a run on housing so you have home prices very high, you also have rent prices very high,” said Diana Olick, senior climate and real estate correspondent for CNBC.

    By the numbers, renting is often cheaper. On average across the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S., a typical renter pays about 40% less per month than a first-time homeowner, based on asking rents and monthly mortgage payments, according to Realtor.com.

    In December 2022, it was more cost-effective to rent than buy in 45 of those metros, the real estate site found. That’s up from 30 markets the prior year.

    How does that work out in terms of monthly costs? In the top 10 metro regions that favored renting, monthly starter homeownership costs were an average of $1,920 higher than rents.

    But that has not proven to be the case for everyone.

    Leland and Stephanie Jernigan recently purchased their first home in Cleveland for $285,000 — or about $100 per square foot. The family of seven will also have Leland’s mother, who has been fighting breast cancer, moving in with them.

    By their calculations, this move — which expands their space threefold and allowing them to take care of Leland’s mother — will be saving them more than $700 per month.

    ‘You don’t buy a house based on the price of the house’

    “You don’t buy a house based on the price of the house,” Olick said. “You buy it based on the monthly payment that’s going to be principal and interest and insurance and property taxes. If that calculation works for you and it’s not that much of your income, perhaps a third of your income, then it’s probably a good bet for you, especially if you expect to stay in that home for more than 10 years. You will build equity in the home over the long term, and renting a house is really just throwing money out.”

    Mortgage rates dropped slightly in early March, due to the stress on the banking system from the recent bank failures. They are moving up again, although they are currently not as high as they were last fall. The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is 6.59% as of April — up from 3.3% around the same time in 2021.

    But that hasn’t significantly dampened demand.

    “As the markets kind of bubbled in certain parts of the country and other parts of the country priced out, we’ve seen a lot of investors coming in looking for affordable homes that they can buy and rent,” said Michael Azzam, a real estate agent and founder of The Azzam Group in Cleveland.

    “We’re still seeing relatively high demand” he added. “Prices have still continued to appreciate even with interest rates where they’re at. And so we’re still seeing a pretty active market here.”

    Buying a home is part of the American Dream

    The Jernigans are achieving a big part of the American Dream. Buying a home is a life event that 74% of respondents in a 2022 Bankrate survey ranked as the highest gauge of prosperity — eclipsing even having a career, children or a college degree.

    The purchase is also a full-circle moment for Leland, who grew up in East Cleveland, where his family was on government assistance.

    “I came from a single-mother home who struggled to put food on the table and always wanted better for her children … it was more criminals than there were police … It is not the type of neighborhood that I wanted my children to grow up in,” said Jernigan.

    The new homeowner also has his eye on building a brighter future for more children than just his own. Jernigan plans to purchase homes in his old neighborhood, renovate them and create a safe space for those growing up like he did.

    “I’m here because someone saw me and saw the potential in me and gave me advice that helped me. … and I just want to pay it forward to someone else” Jernigan said.

    Watch the video above to learn more.

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  • The millennial plan for retirement: Getting help from their kids

    The millennial plan for retirement: Getting help from their kids

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    Some millennials are looking ahead to their eventual retirement are taking a page from an earlier era — one before the U.S. created Social Security.

    Fewer than half of millennials say the federal pension program will factor into their retirement planning, compared with 9 in 10 baby boomers, according to a new survey by Natixis Investment Managers. 

    Instead, most of the respondents in that age range (typically defined as those born between 1981 and 1996) say they’ll get through their golden years by tapping their retirement savings. And 1 in 5 millennials told Natixis they’re banking on their kids helping them out financially. 

    From the basement into the garage

    That view of retirement may reflect the reality of retirement today, with Social Security’s trust fund slated to be depleted in 2033, at which point retirees would get only 77 cents for every $1 in benefits, noted Dave Goodsell, executive director at the Natixis Center for Investor Insight. Given such concerns, millennials are banking on multiple streams of revenue and assistance for their old age, including support from children who may not yet be born.

    “Twenty percent of the generation that started in their parents’ basement think they will end up in their kid’s garage,” Goodsell told CBS MoneyWatch.

    He noted that the view may also stem from the growing trend of multigenerational households in the U.S. That issue is driven by partly by economic changes, with multiple generations bunking together to save on expenses, as well as cultural expectations among some groups that families should live together. 

    About half of all 18- to 29-year olds lived with a parent last year, although that includes a growing segment of older adults who are residing with their adult children, according to Pew Research Center. 

    Even so, boomers have starkly different expectations about where their retirement income. Just 2% of boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — expect their kids to help them in their old age, Natixis found. Most are relying on Social Security, as well as their retirement funds and personal savings. 

    Social insecurity

    One of the biggest generational differences in retirement planning stems from views on Social Security, with millennials’ skepticism stemming from a crescendo of concern about the health of the old-age fund. About 8 in 10 millennials believe that Social Security benefits will be “dramatically” reduced by the time they retire, compared with 4 in 10 boomers, Natixis found.

    “We have heard for a number of years the threat that Social Security will ‘go bankrupt,’ and that weighs heavily in an individual’s mind,” Goodsell said. 

    Baby boomers are retiring in force, pushing up the number of Social Security beneficiaries at a faster clip than the number of younger workers replacing them. But advocates for the program point out that it could be shored up without cutting benefits, such as by eliminating the income cap on the tax that funds Social Security payments. In the current year, any income over $160,200 is exempt from the Social Security tax. 


    Social Security benefits fall short despite increase

    02:27

    To be sure, It’s not only millennials who are worried about Social Security, with a recent Allianz Life survey finding that 3 in 4 adults say they’re not banking on the program in making financial plans for their retirement. 

    But such views may ultimately hurt Social Security rather than helping its viability. For instance, if younger voters assume the program is bound to collapse, they might be less likely to vote for policy makers who would take the steps to shore it up and ensure it remains intact for future generations. 

    $186,000 per year 

    Every generation appears far from reaching their retirement goals, according to the Natixis data. Although millennials think they need almost $900,000 in retirement income to step back from work, the generation’s median account balance is just $32,000. To reach their larger savings goal, they’ll have to save an average of $35,000 per year, Natixis calculated. 

    That may seem daunting, but it’s not impossible. For one, millennials with a retirement plan squirrel away more of their income than either boomers or Gen Xers do, contributing 16% annually compared with less than 10% per year for the older generations, Goodsell noted. noted. 

    Many boomers also may not be able to sock away enough money to afford their retirements, at least not in the style they prefer. Boomers say they need $1.12 million for their golden years, but have a median retirement account balance of $120,000. To reach their goal, the typical boomer would have to save $186,000 annually, Natixis said.

    “Boomers have been trying to adapt and saying I’ll work past 67 1/2 — we’ll work to 70 and get more time to work as much as we can,” Goodsell said. “It’s kind of scary.”

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  • On Mentos’ Apparent Ability to Magically Imbue People With Skills They Should Already Have to Deal With the Inconveniences of Life and How Said Ad Campaign Surely Affected the Millennial Mind

    On Mentos’ Apparent Ability to Magically Imbue People With Skills They Should Already Have to Deal With the Inconveniences of Life and How Said Ad Campaign Surely Affected the Millennial Mind

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    Thinking back on all the reasons why millennials might be “the way they are” (i.e., “ill-equipped”), one culprit (apart from helicopter parents) that shouldn’t be overlooked is the ongoing series of Mentos commercials that were on a loop throughout the 90s. Indeed, the first round of Mentos commercials that would make the Dutch (and, later Dutch-Italian—upon merging with Perfetti in 2001) brand a household name in America aired circa 1991, establishing the scotch mints as a staple of 90s pop culture. But, long before that decade, Dutch brothers Michael and Pierre van Melle came up with the idea for a peppermint-flavored candy in 1932 (clearly, they weren’t too worried about Hitler’s impact on European capitalism just yet). By the 60s and 70s, the “freshmaker” was appearing around the globe.

    But one milieu it still had yet to really make strides in was the U.S. In response to an apparent sales stagnation throughout the 70s and 80s, the German marketing team at Pahnke & Partners managed to come up with something for Mentos that even they probably didn’t know the power of until it was unleashed. The VP of Marketing at Mentos, Liam Killeen, also certainly wasn’t aware that not only would it prompt such a positive reaction (at least in terms of sales), but, as time wore on, an entirely negative one. This elucidated by being verbally attacked by a cashier at a video store simply for wearing a jacket with the Mentos logo on it in 1996, when the Mentos commercials had reached an apex of oversaturation—so much so that the campaign had been referenced throughout an entire season of Baywatch, in Gen X movie staple Clueless (released in 1995) and in the Foo Fighters’ video for “Big Me” (released in 1996, with “Footos” replacing the Mentos name, along with Footos’ own slogan: “The Fresh Fighter”). It was the latter video’s director, Jesse Peretz, who summed up the commercials best as “total lobotomized happiness.” Perhaps this was how Europeans saw the “American way of life” from afar as they cashed in on its darkest side of all: a lust for everything related to capitalism. Or maybe life in the Netherlands (or Holland, if you prefer) really is that blissful, and the Dutch company was simply trying to impart its own form of “lobotomized happiness” onto Americans. Either way, from the American perspective, it translated into a parody—a totally ersatz view of the human condition, or, at best, a 1950s spin on the 1990s.

    Whatever the case, the commercials were simultaneously mocked and obsessed over for their “camp” qualities. But the group it truly had a lasting effect on was millennials watching the boob tube with their elder Gen X siblings. Although Gen X had absorbed the commercials while still in their teens and twenties, millennials did so during more mentally susceptible years, letting the notion that any problem could be solved with an unrealistic approach and the flash of a smile seep irrevocably into their brains. As a new decade arrived with the 00s, perhaps many believed that millennials entering their own teens had quickly forgotten all about a commercial that was theoretically buttoned up with the rest of the 90s. But no, somewhere deep down, the “logic” (read: total illogic) presented in the Mentos commercials lingered within the millennial mind, dormant until activated in their adulthood, when it became quickly evident that it would take a lot more than a “lobotomy smile” and the popping of a Mentos to stave off antagonistic forces or even minor inconveniences.

    And it was with this single planting of the idea that a simple, often non sequitur act could make all one’s problems melt away that Mentos created a monster in the next generation. By presenting the concept that, with the pop of a signature scotch mint, suddenly the problem-solving skills and/or acceptance of harsh realities one should already have to begin with will magically materialize, the company perpetuated millennial dependency on crutches that don’t actually work. The only thing that does work, or is real, is enduring hardship. That’s the true essence of existence, particularly if you’re born into non-affluent circumstances. The idea that we can “make lemonade out of lemons” with “no trouble at all” by rolling around in paint to fix the look of our suit, or ripping both heels of our shoes off when one of them breaks, or going through the backseat of someone else’s car to cross the street, or enlisting a group of construction workers to move our blocked car out of a parallel parking spot is part of the fantastical narrative that millennials were sold from the beginning of their youth. It’s not a coincidence that such indoctrination (and, truly, it can’t be overemphasized how frequently these commercials were playing) would lead to a major letdown later on in life, when it became clear that absolutely nothing could be solved with a plucky attitude or an illogical solution with no thought put into strategy.

    As for the thought put into Mentos’ advertising strategy, maybe it was pure, dumb luck that the company was able to tap into some kind of zeitgeist that presaged internet fandoms and fixations on seemingly “niche” things that would turn out to be a phenomenon as a result of “the kitsch factor” (incidentally, Killeen called the Mentos obsession, which extended to a then germinal internet, “Mentophilia”). Or maybe, beyond mere earnestness about a product meant to induce joy, the ad team was speaking to the age-old marketing belief that the more “irksome” an ad campaign, the more effective. And, irritating or not, Mentos secretly warmed the hearts of millions who balked at its madcap, cornball nature. The words to the jingle didn’t even make any sense—for example, “It doesn’t matter what comes, fresh goes better in life.” But they didn’t have to. The important part was the earworm tune set to visuals of people “solving problems” with “effortless” and nonsensical methods that would never work in real life.

    Yet that was the thing about Mentos: it was an ad campaign that truly sparked millennials’ initial foray into “unreality.” A la-la land where they could delude themselves with ideas of happiness secured with no effort whatsoever. Or if there was at least some vague effort involved, it would automatically work on the first try. The non-Mentos universe, alas, would not provide such instant gratification to many a disappointed millennial. And though some might call it “peak millennial” to blame their woes on a commercial from their childhood, it’s not so. What would be peak is trying to sue the company for damages.

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    Genna Rivieccio

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