Millennials Are Materialists Too, And Money Can Buy Their Happiness

Many young people say that money can’t buy happiness, but the truth might be more complex.

Recent research from San Francisco-based Wells Fargo Asset Management suggests that for members of the millennial generation, age 20 to 36, financial responsibility and stability are strongly correlated with happiness and satisfaction, though many millennials seek joy from sources other than money.

Only about a third of the participants in the “2017 Wells Fargo Millennial Study” said they were satisfied with their financial life, yet 62 percent of the respondents said they felt happy in general.

Forty-six percent of the survey’s respondents reported struggles with significant amounts of debt, while 43 percent struggled with health-care expenses. More than two in five of the millennials said they regularly rely on others such as family, friends or a spouse for financial support.

Young adults are weary of their financial stressors; 69 percent of the survey respondents reported that they’re ready to get over their financial anxiety.

According to Wells Fargo, it’s not just financial stress that dampens millennials’ financial prospects, but distrust of the investment universe as well. Among the study’s respondents, 53 percent said that they would never be comfortable investing in the stock market. About a fifth of the participants said they are not currently invested in equities and they never plan to be, while another 17 percent said they are not currently invested but plan to invest in stocks in the future.

Financial anxiety isn’t necessarily sandbagging the happiness and satisfaction of most millennials, though, according to the study; 62 percent of American millennials describe themselves as happy and 65 percent describe their life as “meaningful.”