Posts

KO Boomer

avatar of @tarazkp
25
@tarazkp
·
·
0 views
·
5 min read

In Australia, the amount of under 24s who own crypto has over doubled in the last 10 months, which means that it is around the 40% now. People are yet to fully understand the ramifications of this, but in the next 15 years, these by then, long-term crypto holders and users will start being in management positions in companies, making strategic decisions. This will increasingly and fundamentally shift the way businesses approach crypto and blockchain technologies, as they look to capture the wealth with their business models.

But there is more to it than this. While the favorable conditions for the boomers of job security, low housing to earnings debt ratios and interest rates on savings account that rival index fund investments are gone, the wealth sinks that have been stored are now starting to be released into the economy. As they say, you can't take it with you - and no one lives forever.

We have already seen this generational transfer taking place and it is one of the reasons that in Australia for example, housing prices are skyrocketing. The bank of mum and dad is increasingly being used to fund people to get into a house and fuel a massive surge in prices. This is somewhat a symbiotic relationship, as it allows for the older generations to put their profits back into the sink for their kids, as many know that the markets are inflated and crashes are coming, plus, they no longer need to put more into their superannuation.

The estimate from Australia is, that about 3.5 trillion dollars will be unsinked and transferred from boomer to child in the next 15 years and to put that into perspective, it is about 20% of the entire GDP of Australia in that time. This injects a massive amount of capital into the hands of those whose parents have managed to keep themselves financially successful. Of course, this is actually going to work on a spectrum, with the minority transferring the most, to those who probably are already doing okay already, as that is how the economy is structured.

However, it is interesting to note that a around a quarter of the future inheritance receivers banking on the inheritance money to save them and provide for them. Which doesn't bode well for what is actually going to happen to all of that "free" money. Some research has found that 40% of the recipients if getting the money today, would put it straight into their savings - which is going to cost them 4% in inflation a year. One third would look to invest and almost 205 would buy the things they couldn't otherwise afford.

Back at the Global Financial Crisis in 2008, I was surprised by Finn's reactions to economic conditions of business downturn, increasing unemployment, diminishing job security and earnings prospects and a general crash in overall earnings. The surprise to me was, people from one of the most educated countries on earth, did nothing. The government didn't react and the average person kept spending as normal - even luxury car sales remained at the same level. As a result, for the first time in history, Finland didn't return to positive numbers and continue to operate on debt, while the countries surrounding Finland recovered quickly.

In order for people to maintain their lifestyles whilst in the midst of economic downturn, what they did was sell off their inheritances, with summer places being dumped on the market to the point where there were articles complaining that they were being purchased by Russians, posing a security threat to the country. I don't believe that, but what was made evident, was that many people's lifestyles weren't sustainable with a downturn and I discovered that quite a number of my friends, (people around 30 at the time) weren't as independent as they had appeared, with many getting parental support in some way. I was of course blinded by my own financial perspective in this, as I didn't get an inheritance of a house, car or money, so my approach never considered getting any kind of bonus injection.

My point of this little interlude was that people have already started selling their inheritances, even while their parents are still alive. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but luxury cars and holidays don't appreciate in value, which means come another economic downturn, there might not be too much more to sell for some people.

I believe the next generation of inheritance recipients are going to be more polarized in their financial literacy, with a few being able to manage what they get well, pushing it into the right pools to keep generating more wealth. But the majority, I believe they are going to squander it, because they haven't had to live in a world of hardship before, meaning that they will choose to use it to maintain their lifestyle quality in the hard times, rather than build a foundation that can take advantage of the good times to follow.

In the coming decade, there are going to be monumental shifts in wealth dynamics across the globe, as not only will there be an "unstaking" of wealth that gets transferred to the younger generation, but there will be a change in product and service demand also. This shifts business models and as said above, the people making the decisions are far more likely going to be crypto entrenched, meaning that there is a potential for a huge amount of flow into the cryptosphere economies. Not only this, the launch of Bitcoin as a mainstream investment option yesterday, will lead to more of the interim Boomer money looking for late in life gains, so this will drive value in that will give more energy to capture later.

For most though, 15 years feels like an eternity, so they will not invest into that kind of position, which is why they will be on the wrong side of the polarization. Just think, it has only been thirteen years since the inception of Bitcoin and, there is far more to come, even in the next five. But, the entire space has investment potential and it will be the places that are able to capture the attention of investors long-term, that will do the best.

A lot of people are increasingly wary of sinking and locking up funds into something like a house, so they want to stay liquid or close to liquid in order to maintain lifestyle or react to strong movements in the markets if needed. These days, it is possible to build "digital houses" where wealth can both be secured like in a savings account, as well as appreciate in value and be used. I think more are going to opt for these alternatives, which will increase wealth capture and therefore, potential for goods, services and more economic tools to be built upon them. The flows of wealth are going to change and through this, opportunities for many will arise.

Opportunity to use skills is one thing, but it is far easier to get off the ground if there is a little capital support in the background. Some will use the wealth transfer form their parents to fund a better lifestyle for a period of time, some will use it to build a better life for themselves and others. Money is just a tool to be used. What we use it for, dictates the future.

Taraz [ Gen1: Hive ]

Posted Using LeoFinance Beta