The stock market is near record highs. Unemployment is low. So why does it feel like young people have never been more pessimistic about money?
Beth Kobliner has been writing about personal finance for over 30 years, and she says today’s 20- and 30-somethings have it harder than any generation she’s covered.
She has the data to prove it.
I sat down with Beth to dig into why the numbers and the mood don’t match, why the gambling boom isn’t really about gambling at all, and why tapping your phone to pay might be quietly costing you more than you think.
Listen Here
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Key Takeaways
- The Pessimism Is Mathematically Supported, Not Just a Mood: The median age of first-time homebuyers has jumped from 28 to nearly 40. Even after adjusting for inflation, entry-level home prices have skyrocketed, and recent college graduates now have a higher unemployment rate than the general population — a complete reversal from past decades. When young people say things are harder, the numbers back them up.
- The Gambling Boom Is Really About Giving Up: Getting a first job and buying a first home are both harder than they used to be, and for many people, that despair flips the logic on risk. Economists call this the “giving up” effect — deciding you’ll never get ahead the traditional way, so you take a long-shot bet instead, even though it’s statistically a bad decision.
- The Easier It Gets to Pay, the More You Overspend: Research on “frictionless finance” shows that the further you get from physically handing over cash, the more you spend — credit cards already increase spending versus cash, and tapping your phone increases it even further. The behavioral fix: add friction back in, like pulling out a physical card instead of tapping your phone.
Resources
A free 10-day workbook to work through your money mindset and your next move: https://affordanything.com/fiire
Get Beth Kobliner’s book Get a Financial Life: https://amzn.to/4pXgPfK
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel, the index-fund classic Beth and Paula both referenced: https://amzn.to/4bq9IGC
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Chapters
Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads.
(00:39) Why today’s 20- and 30-somethings have it harder than any generation Beth’s covered
(03:04) The consumer sentiment reading that’s worse than the pandemic and the Great Recession
(05:14) Why record-low unemployment doesn’t mean what you think for new grads
(10:23) Why the median first-time homebuyer is now pushing 40
(13:36) The real reason behind the boom in crypto, sports betting, and meme stocks
(15:52) The “giving up” factor economists say is driving risky bets
(17:15) Why a tiny sliver of prediction-market bettors take home most of the winnings
(23:26) Is the “avocado toast” spending story about young people even true?
(43:44) How tapping your phone quietly makes you spend more than a credit card
(01:04:13) Why financial optimism is rising in countries poorer than the U.S.
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