Milleneals were able to save during the pandemic and they need to invest now

I got invited by people from Vista Residences to talk about Investing Tips for Millleneals.  This will happen on Dec 1 via their Official facebook account.  Please see here to registration link.

https://www.vistaresidences.com.ph/ 

https://www.facebook.com/VistaResidencesOfficial/posts/3825522130801187

As I was mulling over the topic for my talk, I needed to do some research on this generation which has been misjudged and misunderstood by the older gen, including mine (Gen X).  But as I conclude my deck, I realized that every generation has gone through that stage in life where self-realization is a foremost need.  Sometimes more than financial stability, the need to find the self is I think one of the most important ideals for the said Gen Y.  This is evidenced by its high level of patronage of travel promos and DIY get away trips by most of the middle class even those belonging to the lower middle class. 

I remember one of my staff in the office telling me how she is able to save for 4 months by having pack lunch instead of her usual lunch outs.  She of course was saving for a trip to Bali with her friends who were also saving for their trip in different ways.  But this staff of mine belongs to the lower middle class family whose parents are still working at blue collar jobs despite their old age.  Again, most of us are quick to judge them but for these kids as well as their parents, they deserve trips like these.  

So for years since this generation joined the workforce we see an increase in spending on non-essential and recreational items that we (Gen X) are only seeing recently.  Aside from hightech gadgets, these items have been there for years (travel, restaurants, getaways, hotels etc).  But it is only now that these are being taken up in a no-guilt fashion.  This probably is a result of our economy doing fairly well pre-covid when GDP is growing by at least 5-6% on a yearly basis.  People have more money to spend. They either earmark a huge amount of savings to recreational or they just spend it all in one go most of the time.  Having this in mind, we can say therefore that spending has indeed been rationalized because of the pandemic.  Not because they do not want to spend but because they cannot spend.  Their travel plans have been cancelled because of airline cancellations.  They shopping has been limited to online which most still have apprehensions especially in buying clothes.  And dining out is at a halt because of safety issues etc.  In 2019, my spend on lunch, snacks and dinner alone averaged P10k a month.  This is not including fancy dinners with family and friends.  So I can just imagine how much people are able to save for least 6 months now.  

In general, you'd think that milleneals, now 27-36 yo, are still immature individuals who are usually blowing off their salaries in a day for a day in the spa or hotel.  In my opinion, most of them already started a family and most have already saved enough to start small businesses online along with their full-time jobs.  Most GEn Yers I know if they're still single are now in that stage where they are thinking of settling down.  And this pandemic might have accelerated their thinking process.  They might have contemplated about their future and how well they should prepare for it.