The Millennial generation, born roughly from 1980-2005, is now the largest generation in history weighing in at just about 80 million people. They now outnumber their parents’ generation, the aging Baby Boomer. And with 12,000 Millennials turning 30 every day, the American Dream has started to shift. Gone are the days of working for one company over a lifetime and the house with the white picket fence. A new poll says more than 40% of America’s baby boomers stayed with their employer for more than 20 years, but it’s unlikely that their children or grandchildren will experience the same job tenure.
The shift may be less about differences in attitude and more about changes in the types of jobs available (social media didn’t exist 10 years ago). Benefits have also changed. About two-thirds of those who stayed with one employer for 20 or more years had a pension, according to the survey, compared with only a third of those who had never stayed that long with one employer. Those defined benefit pension plans are slowly disappearing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that only 18% of private workers were covered by these plans in 2011, down from 35% in the early 1990s. More common now are plans like 401(k)s, which are more portable from one employer to another.
Millennials are also making major life decisions (marriage, kids, etc.) later on in life creating a large segment of the population who would rather rent for the time being than own. And renting out of choice rather than necessity has created a huge demand for Class A, resort style multi-family apartments. South Coast has been working with Cottonwood Residential for the last several years focussing on this exact demographic and asset class. Join us for lunch to discuss where the opportunities are in the multi-family space and how we are able to participate in this New American Dream. Click below to RSVP for lunch on Thursday, September 15th, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm.