Humans have evolved a lot; from building a civilization to setting rules for the society and a lot more. The stonage man started dwelling in one place much later, when he started owning things. When he did not own materialistic things, he wandered from place to place in search of food.
The generation of after 1980’s is called the millennials. For the millennials, life has become similar to the previous time. They prefer to wander to different places rather than being stuck in one place, not in hunt of food but in hunt of experiences. The essence of life is in the various experiences; not in material but in memories.The expansion of memories is possible only by expanding the boundaries our living.
The older generation believed in the otherwise. Owning a place, a vehicle or maybe getting a permanent job was what gave them satisfaction and a sense of security. That is also correct in its own sense because you then have somewhere to go to.
Why does this generation refrain from owning an apartment or a car in the recent times?
Well, life is uncertain, so is the future. Living in the present and enjoying the moment can be one of the several reasons why the present generation abstains from owning a permanent dwelling place. Listed below are a few more reasons –
1. Increasing expenses
Along with time, the expenses have taken a hike. The cost of living has increased; buying the house of your dreams without a loan is not possible for a majority of the population. We say that facilities like credit cards and loans have aided to our expenditure style. But has it really?
Many youngsters go through financial crisis. This does not allow them to get into something as serious as paying a loan. It might take years to fade that debt and they have to stay committed to it, without which what they buy will no longer be theirs. Unless people are earning a huge amount of money, they cannot afford to have acquisitions.
2. More earning sources
A survey conducted by Forbes says that modern young people change jobs every three years on average. Due to the rise in the cost of living, earning has become a crucial part of everyone’s life. With increasing experiences each day, if the youth gets a better opportunity with a better pay, they tend to immediately take it up. On the other hand, settling in one place would only restrict them to limited exposure in the work perspective. Moreover, there is always an option to move close to your new workplace when you stay on rent.
3. No buying – no possession – no worry
If the millennials don’t buy an apartment or vehicle, they are free to travel, need not maintain either of those and need not shell out more to maintain it.
If roughly calculated, the amount of money we put in buying a car and maintaining it has a per day expense that is much more as compared to traveling in carpools or cabs. Moreover, with the increasing amount of traffic, driving for long hours becomes tiring.
An Atlantic’s columnist, James Hamblin, explains this: “Over the past decade, psychologists carried out a great amount of research proving that, in terms of happiness and a sense of well-being, spending money on new experiences is much more profitable than buying new things. It brings more joy.”
We tend to bend towards what gives us happiness and joy.Owning anything will only make us worry about it when we are away from it. There is a lot of freedom when there is no particular possession to look after.
4. Who does not like going on vacations in different places?
Instead of a vacation, it’s going and living a little part of their lives in different places, creating good memories, meeting new people and making new friends. Socializing has been a huge part living in a society. But the younger generation now prefers to have friends from various other cultures, know different people, know their cultures, understand their way of living and even adapt to some of their lifestyle if they feel more comfortable with it.
5. Investing in collection of experiences and not in material
It looks like the millennials perhaps are not very keen on collecting materialistic things but wish to have a collection of experiences. Their choice is between investing a huge amount in one place and a vehicle and having a limited amount of exposure as against spending comparatively smaller amounts in exploring various places and styles of working.
In conclusion, the youth of today believe in living in the present rather than living in an uncertain future. They are collecting a fortune not of money but that of experiences. This kind of living surely is contributing to an eased state of mind as far as expenditure in concerned. Time brings along changes and this lifestyle is major change that is becoming a reason for the youth to enjoy the perks of luxury and thus feel happy.