The study of the Millennial generation has become an industry unto itself. Out Wednesday is yet another study in the seemingly endless quest to fathom this group. And According to the Bank of the West 2017 Millennial Study released today, Millennials imagine themselves untethered and without boundaries, yet their actions exude the reverse: stability.
Like previous generations, Millennials want to achieve the classic American Dream of owning a home, paying off debt, and someday retiring from a fulfilling career, but they also have a desire to travel, to live abroad, and to pursue their passions.
“Millennials dream of living abroad, moving to a new city and switching careers, but in reality they are quite satisfied with stability,” said Paul Appleton, executive vice president, Consumer Payments & Product, Bank of the West in San Francisco. “It’s an interesting dichotomy that doesn’t appear with Gen-Xers or Boomers. This generation is dreaming bigger and better, and while they are confident they’ll fulfill their dreams, they need help figuring out how to fund them.”
More than six in 10 Millennials believe the American Dream is still alive today. In fact, they even agree with Gen Xers and Boomers, calling out being happy (70%), owning a home (60%), being debt-free (55%), and retiring comfortably (51%) as the top four ingredients of their American Dream.
When considering where to call home, the overwhelming majority of Millennials (85%) say it’s important to have the flexibility to move when they want. Most Millennials (67%) even say they would like to live abroad at some point in their lives, and nearly a third of this group can see themselves building a life in another country for the long haul.
However, this perspective is very different from how they’re actually living. On average, they only envision themselves packing up and moving to a new city, state or country fewer than two more times in their lives, and most (68%) even say they would prefer to build a life in one community, rather than live and work in multiple geographies. This is evidenced by some Millennials’ decision to buy their homes (43%)—a purchase that can make relocation more challenging. At odds with their reputation for being the renting generation, for those Millennials who are not yet home owners, three in four say they could be motivated to buy a house.
The misalignment between Millennials’ dreams and actions is evident in their career paths as well. Nearly half (48%) agree that they would need to switch employers every few years to be paid what they feel they’re worth. In practice, however, most Millennials (65%) are happy working for their current company, while 79% say they wouldn’t quit their current jobs to pursue another career and 62% would not move cross-country without a new job offer in hand.
Millennials are also focused on building a family, which makes uprooting their lives at a moment’s notice more challenging — and when asked whether they’d prefer a fulfilling family life or a fulfilling professional life, more than three-quarters (78%) of Millennials would put their family life first. If given the choice between moving closer or farther away from their families, eight in 10 would move closer.
This struggle between imagining their lives with no limits, while wanting to put down roots, may be taking an emotional toll on Millennials: the majority (64%) say they sometimes feel stuck in the life they have.
Millennials are a generation of optimists. Even with such a lengthy list of dreams to chase, the vast majority (85%) say they are confident that they will attain their American Dream.
Millennials in particular believe they have been granted the chance to achieve their goals: 67% agree that they have more opportunity to be successful than their parents had. When it comes to making their dreams a reality, all respondents overwhelmingly felt that having the opportunity (80%), not innate ability (20%), is the key to reaching their goals.
Despite this optimism, only half of Millennials (49%) have a plan in place to finance their American Dream. Without a roadmap to guide them, Millennials’ savings habits do not align with their goals for the future. They prioritize one day owning a home and saving for retirement—and yet in practice, more Millennials are saving to travel than for either of these two goals.
