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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Luxury companies' sales are tanking in China due to slowing consumer demand.</li><li>Chinese consumers are putting their money into safe assets rather than spending it.</li></ul>Luxury sales are suffering in the <a target="_blank" href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=CN&amp;most_recent_value_desc=true">world's second-largest economy</a> as Chinese shoppers cut back on luxury spending.Kering, the latest luxury brand to report earnings, said on Wednesday that it continued to see a "deceleration" in Asia-Pacific. The company <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gucci-kering-income-decline-stock-down-hit-china-sales-slump-2024-4">warned in April</a> that recurring operating income for the first half of the year would slide up to 45%, compared to the first half of 2023. Two-thirds of Kering's revenue comes from Gucci, which has been especially hard hit in China as customers eschew the brand's older designs and buy at a discount overseas.LVMH <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lvmh-earnings-china-luxury-consumer-spending-marketing-shopping-japan-currency-2024-7">reported</a> a 13% decline in revenue — down to 12.4 billion euros, or $13.4 billion — for Asia in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year. While LVMH did not specifically break out revenue from China, the company has seen sluggish Chinese consumer demand, particularly in the second quarter, said chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony on Tuesday.Consumer spending in China has been improving "more moderately than before COVID-19," Luca Solca, a luxury goods analyst at Bernstein, told Business Insider.Chinese shoppers' reluctance to spend more despite higher<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-second-quarter-gdp-growth-weak-demand-consumption-exports-2024-7"> disposable incomes</a> "produces a 'growth relay' of relatively muted proportion, where even high-quality companies have generated low single-digit growth," Solca said.<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-luxury-retail-sales-slowdown-brands-fashion-2024-7">LVMH's peers</a> have similarly seen slumps in revenue from China. In its most recent quarter, Burberry's Chinese sales revenue declined 21% from last year. In recent earnings, Kering, Swatch, and Hugo Boss expressed challenges in engaging a Chinese market with softening demand.Richemont also was barraged by the weakening Chinese consumer demand. Last week, the parent company of brands including Cartier <a target="_blank" href="https://www.richemont.com/media/iljbpjkt/ad-hoc-announcement-pursuant-to-art-53-lr-fy25-q1-sales-for-the-first-quarter-ended-30-june-2024.pdf">reported</a> a 27% decline in revenue in the combined markets of China, Hong Kong, and Macau, dragging total Asia Pacific sales down by 18%.<h2 id="31963d30-a7de-4331-9ab6-23d53dc55766">Massive discounts and online shopping</h2>To try to boost sales, luxury brands have given <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-brands-slash-prices-in-china-burberry-marc-jacobs-2024-7">massive discounts</a> to Chinese consumers. Brands including Balenciaga and Versace slashed prices by an average of 40% and 50%, respectively, to Chinese customers, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-06-13/luxury-labels-slash-prices-50-to-lure-wary-chinese-shoppers">Bloomberg</a> reported last month. In early July, Marc Jacobs offered more than 50% discounts on Alibaba's upscale e-commerce platform, Tmall Luxury Pavilion, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.ft.com/content/d304beae-9a75-432c-b3b6-006a70a64b93">FT</a> reported. Burberry, Balenciaga, and Marc Jacobs did not respond to earlier requests for comment.This step into e-commerce is a change for luxury retailers, which have traditionally abstained from listing products online to avoid associating their brand with quick and convenient shopping, Damien Yeo, an analyst at Fitch Solutions, told BI. They're likely trying to clear stock, which could degrade their brands as some third-party platforms sell their goods at big discounts, Yeo said.A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-household-deposits-savings-luxury-consumer-demand-slowdown-economy-outlook-2024-7">recent survey</a> by US investment bank TD Cowen suggested that Chinese consumers are spending less on luxury goods while spending more on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-economy-lopsided-recovery-consumer-retail-spending-industrial-output-property-2024-5">overseas travel </a>and safe assets such as gold. The government is also <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-wants-nepo-baby-get-rich-quick-influencers-gone-2024-5">campaigning</a> against "money worship," so consumers may be less likely to buy something splashy, part of a broader <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/luxury-goods-sales-slow-clothes-shoes-china-bain-company-travel-2024-6">cultural tilt</a> toward "luxury shaming."Luxury goods are still popular with wealthy Chinese shoppers — just not in China. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/rich-chinese-flock-to-japan-in-search-of-luxury-bargains-2024-7">Japan</a> has been a popular tourist destination for the Chinese, thanks to the yen's 40-year low against the US dollar. This currency weakness has attracted "a big shift of business from Asia into Japan," said LVMH's Guiony on Tuesday. LVMH sales in Japan were boosted by 57% in the first half of the year, which Guiony attributed to a surge in Chinese tourists.Not all luxury brands are feeling the heat in China. Hermès saw a 17% spike in sales revenue in the first three months of the year due to its recession-resistant customer base, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-04-25/hermes-defies-luxury-slowdown-with-sales-jump-in-asia">Bloomberg</a> reported. Hermès is set to publish half-yearly financials on Thursday.

The luxury outlook in China just keeps getting worse

<ul class="summary-list"><li>European stock funds drew in $3.4 billion last week, the largest inflow since early 2022. </li><li>Investors want exposure to the euro area as it looks increasingly likely it will avoid a recession. </li></ul>European stocks have pulled in the most cash in almost a year, according to figures released Friday, as the regional economy looks increasingly likely to stave off a recession. Investors poured in $3.4 billion into European equity funds over the past week, Bank of America said in its Flow Show note published Friday. The amount was the most since February 2022, with BofA citing global funds tracker EPFR for the dollar amount. "Helped by a warm winter that has left natural gas storage tanks nearly full and the prospect of renewed Chinese demand for the region's exports, sentiment towards European assets has thawed rapidly in early 2023," Cameron Brandt, EPFR's director of research, said in a Friday note. The <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/index/stoxx_europe_600">STOXX Europe 600</a> has gained 7% so far in 2023. Early winners included German engineering and steel heavyweight <a href="https://www.investing.com/equities/thyssen-krupp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ThyssenKrupp AG,</a> with shares up by 33% in Frankfurt trade year-to-date, and luxury brands retailer <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/stocks/lvmhf-stock">LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.</a> Its stock has climbed 17% in Paris trade. European leaders stockpiled fuel to prepare for a harsh winter after Russia cut its supply of natural gas to the region in the wake of its war against Ukraine. But demand has been weaker than anticipated, leading to a roughly 70% <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/natural-gas-price-today-demand-exports-texas-lng-russia-ukraine-2023-1">crash from highs for natural gas prices. </a>Meanwhile, China, the world's second-largest economy, has been reopening activity there after recently retreating from its strict COVID lockdown measures. China is the world's largest oil importer and is among the biggest markets for luxury goods. Calls seeing the euro area's ability to sidestep a recession this year have been picking up. "The economy may still be shrinking a little in the first quarter, but, given the improvement in expectations for the next month we're seeing now from businesses, it is very unlikely we will have a technical recession which would be two negative quarters," <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/25/german-recession-unlikely-as-business-sentiment-brightens-ifo.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ifo President Clemens Fuest told CNBC</a>. The closely watched <a href="https://www.ifo.de/en/facts/2023-01-25/ifo-business-climate-index-rises-january-2023" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ifo business sentiment survey in Germany</a> rose in January, a fourth consecutive monthly increase. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/europe-may-avoid-recession-in-2023-economic-chiefs-say/a-64414532" target="_blank" rel="noopener">EU Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni</a> said this week there's "a chance to avoid a deep recession," for the bloc. "The recession that people feared six months ago is not happening," Goldman Sachs chief global equity strategist <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2023-01-27/goldman-s-oppenheimer-says-european-recession-isn-t-happening?sref=GUP2BhaG" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Peter Oppenheimer told Bloomberg</a> on Friday.

Investors are piling the most cash into European stocks in nearly a year as recession outlook fades

Prices of luxury properties appreciated by 8-12 per cent during the last year across major cities and have breached the 2015 peak level, according to <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> Sotheby's International Realty. In its annual 'Luxury Outlook Survey 2023', India Sotheby's International Realty (<keyword id="14413008" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="isir" source="Orion">ISIR</keyword>) revealed that 61 per cent of High-Net-worth Individuals (HNIs) and Ultra High-Net-worth Individuals (UHNIs) are looking to buy luxury real estate during 2023-24. The sample size of the survey is more than 500 HNIs and UHNIs. Asked about the price range of the property respondents were considering, the ISIR said that the highest interest (65 per cent) came in the price bracket of Rs 4-10 crore for their property investment. The survey found that 33 per cent of HNIs and UHNIs are willing to spend upwards of Rs 10 crore to acquire the right luxury property. On rates of luxury properties, the ISIR said, "Even though luxury property prices have gained 8-12 per cent in 2022, they are only marginally higher than the 2015 peak." ISIR CEO Amit Goyal said the housing sales remain strong amid pent-up demand and the country's economic growth. "As the wealth of a nation grows, it is bound to bring in a new set of buyers into luxury real estate and that's what we are witnessing," Goyal said. "We all are witness to a fundamental shift in the desire for home ownership across age groups, post the pandemic. A young thriving workforce in India will continue to drive demand for the housing sector," he added. Ashwin <keyword id="297510" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="chadha" source="Orion">Chadha</keyword>, President of ISIR, noted that Indian real estate has started its multi-year bull run in 2021, after years of remaining subdued. "Prices of luxury homes have risen in the last 16 months, but they are still only marginally higher than the peak prices of 2015, making it possible for HNIs to strike well-priced deals even now," Chadha added. On key demand drivers, the ISIR said that lifestyle upgrade remains the key motivation for buying property in 2023- 24. "Capital appreciation is the second most important motivation factor for buying property. This indicates that HNIs and UHNIs are expecting prices to rise in the coming years," the report said, adding that 12 per cent of the wealthy also ticked real estate as a chosen asset class to create multi-generational wealth to pass on to the next of kin. Among other findings, the ISIR report said that Delhi NCR, Mumbai, <keyword id="826" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="goa" source="Orion">Goa</keyword> and Bengaluru remain the top four cities for respondents to buy real estate. "Eleven per cent of India's wealthy are searching for real estate in overseas destinations. This number was negligible when we conducted our survey at the end of 2021," it added. ISIR survey revealed that 57 per cent of those surveyed still consider the city and urban community for their luxury real estate purchase in the coming years. Another 33 per cent of people gravitated towards owning a farmhouse/holiday destination. High-rise apartments remain the most sought-after real estate investment for respondents followed by farmhouse/holiday homes. Rent-yielding commercial real estate is also in demand as 23 per cent of the respondents would like to invest in it. Larger homes and open green spaces combined with excellent physical and social infrastructure came as the top two reasons for wealthy Indians choosing a property to buy, the survey report said. "We were happy to see 11 per cent also picked sustainable features as one of the key reasons driving their purchase," it added. The report further said that 74 per cent of the surveyed HNIs and UHNIs believe real estate is an important asset to hedge against inflation. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/personalities/award-winning-compostwali-poonam-kasturi-wants-money-not-awards-finds-it-on-shark-tank-india/slidelist/97087692.cms">Compostwali Poonam Kasturi says she wants money, not awards, on Shark Tank India and gets it</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/janitri-on-shark-tank-india-bill-melinda-gates-foundation-backed-startup-provides-ai-solutions-to-monitor-pregnant-women/articleshow/97088842.cms">Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation backed startup provides AI solutions to monitor pregnant women</a>

Luxury property prices up 8-12% in 2022; surpasses 2015 peak level: India Sotheby's International Realty

<ul><li>Successful consumer-facing companies are repurposing physical locations, exploring new business models, and rapidly adopting advanced analytics and other disruptive technologies to find new sources of growth.</li><li>98% of consumers in India have made at least one permanent change to their lifestyle since the outbreak of the pandemic.</li></ul>The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people live, work and socialize, accelerating demand for innovation, as retailers, consumer goods, and travel companies shift from reacting to the crisis to reinventing products and services, according to findings of a <a href="https://www.accenture.com/us-en/insights/consulting/consumer-innovation?c=acn_glb_covid-19consumemediarelations_12135616&amp;n=mrl_0421" target="_blank">new global survey</a> from <keyword id="6370971" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="accenture">Accenture</keyword> (NYSE: ACN). After a year of lockdowns, 98% of survey respondents in India said they made at least one change to their lifestyle that they expect will be permanent. Working from home, changing travel patterns, and a growing desire to shop locally are challenging industries to fundamentally rethink how they cater to the pandemic-adapted consumer. The latest survey of more than 9,650 people in 19 countries including more than 500 people in India, supports Accenture’s <a href="https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/covid-19-likely-to-usher-in-decade-of-the-home-according-to-accenture-survey-research.htm" target="_blank">previous findings</a> that many changes in behaviour will likely be long-term. “The past year has been a tough one for consumers and consumer-facing industries. Evolving consumer preferences and behaviours have led to huge demand fluctuation, making it imperative for consumer goods and retail companies to stay agile and resilient. As companies shift from reaction to reinvention, they need to harness digital’s full potential across the value chain at speed and scale,” said Anurag Gupta, managing director and lead - Strategy &amp; Consulting, Accenture in India. COVID-19 has led to compressed transformation, with companies simultaneously transforming multiple parts of the enterprise and reskilling people in what previously would have been longer-term step-by-step programs. Many consumer-facing companies have re-platformed their businesses in the cloud, addressed cost pressures, and continued to build resilience and security, putting the infrastructure in place to enable innovation and position them for future success. <keyword id="94933" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Manish-Gupta">Manish Gupta</keyword>, managing director and lead for Products practice, Accenture in India said, “To succeed in a post-pandemic economy, companies need to digitally reinvent themselves and strategically invest in technology, people and supply chains. Adoption of digital technologies such as cloud, artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, combined with a well-defined purpose, can help companies to not only reach out to consumers in innovative ways but also adapt faster to the evolving market demands.” Dawn of the “third space” The pandemic forced a rapid shift to employees working from home, with many expressing that they want flexibility in how and where they work moving forward. More than 87% of respondents in India said they would like to occasionally work from a “third space” — a location other than their home or place of employment.This highlights a potential opportunity to grow revenue for the hospitality and retail industries. The desire to work from a “third space” is accompanied by a shift in attitudes towards business travel. Nearly 57% of respondents in India said they have no business travel plans post-pandemic, or they intend to cut previous business travel by half. How long this view will hold firm remains to be seen, but the current outlook indicates that the return to travel will resume principally within the leisure market, pushing the industry to adapt and become even more efficient to make up for lost income. <a name="m_1887950008226194387__Hlk68162230">Shifts in consumer habits are here to stay</a> Not only do people think some of their work habits and travel plans have likely permanently changed, many also think their shopping habits have evolved for the long haul. The latest research supports Accenture’s previously released findings that the dramatic rise in e-commerce is likely to remain or accelerate further. For instance, the proportion of online purchases for products such as food, home décor, fashion, and luxury goods by previously infrequent e-commerce users — defined as those who used online channels for less than 25% of purchases prior to the outbreak — has increased 667% since the outbreak in India.

The proportion of online purchases for food, home décor, fashion, and luxury goods by previously infrequent e-commerce users has increased 667% since the outbreak in India: Report

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">REUTERS/ Carlos BarriaA woman shops in a Louis Vuitton store during Vogue's 4th Fashion's Night Out: Shopping Night with Celebrities in downtown Shanghai, September 7, 2012.</div></div></div>HONG KONG (Reuters) - Wealthy Chinese are likely to buy fewer luxury goods again this year after the steepest cut-back on spending in at least five years, changing the game for high-end retailers like Louis Vuitton which have staked their growth on China.
Overall spending by wealthy Chinese fell by 15 percent in 2013, the third consecutive year of decline, according to a survey by the Hurun Report. Spending on gifts in particular also declined by a quarter.
The drop coincides with a government crackdown on corruption and gifting, as well as an a growing penchant for travelling and shopping overseas to circumvent Chinese consumption taxes on luxury goods as high as 40 percent.
The shrinking ranks of wealthy residents in China has also reduced luxury spending. One in three so-called high net worth individuals have already left, or are planning to leave, the country, the report showed, mostly to seek better opportunities for their children's education.
Chinese are the top consumers of luxury goods globally. A slowdown in their spending, or a change in shopping habits, would hurt high-end retailers already struggling with a weaker Chinese economy and a more sophisticated clientele that has moved away from logo-branded goods.
Luxury group Richemont, the maker of high-end IWC watches and Cartier jewellery, reported this week slower-than-expected sales growth in the third quarter, largely due to weaker Asian demand.
LVMH, the world's biggest luxury goods group, has also seen sales growth slow last year as Chinese demand cooled, prompting the company, and brands from rival Kering SA to offer goods with more discreet logos and in expensive materials.
"In terms of traditional luxury - leathers, accessories, watches - this year is going to be flat if not a little bit down,"Hurun Report founder and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf told Reuters.
"For luxuries like tea, healthcare, even education, we are still looking at a booming market."
The crackdown on conspicuous spending, which began in 2012, is part of a vow made by Chinese President Xi Jinping to be tougher on graft. He has focused in particular on gifts made to government officials often in exchange for preferential treatment or contracts.
As a result, many wealthy Chinese now buy luxury goods for themselves, rather than as gifts, Hoogewerf said.
Products by Hermes, Chanel, LVMH's Louis Vuitton brand, Apple Inc and Gucci remained among the most sought-after brands for gifting, the survey showed.
Less popular were Bulgari - another LVMH brand - Salvatore Ferragamo, Tiffany and Co and the fiery baijiu liquor made by Chinese firm Kweichow Moutai Co Ltd, once the top tipple of Communist Party officials.
<h3>SAVVIER CONSUMERS</h3>
Affluent Chinese often shop online for the best price globally. They have also become more confident about their fashion choices, mixing high-street clothing and accessories with branded goods.
"There is a much savvier consumer out there," Hoogewerf said. "There will be more purchasing done overseas than in China. For a brand that's global it's fine."
Over two-thirds of luxury spending by mainland Chinese was overseas in 2013, a factor that contributed to theUnited States overtaking China as the world's fastest growing luxury market, according to a study by consultancy firm Bain &amp; Company released in December.
China's super-rich are also avid collectors - 70 percent of wealthy Chinese rank collecting as a hobby - but what they are coveting is changing.
Ancient calligraphy last year surpassed luxury watches as the most-collected, knocking watches out of the No. 1 spot for the first time in five years, the Hurun report showed, which could mean revenue losses for top watch makers but a boon for auctioneers.
Patek Philippe remained the most popular watch brand for collectors for the seventh year running while Christie's was the top ranked foreign auction house, the report showed.
Besides spending less at home, more rich Chinese are leaving the country. The number of wealthy Chinese who have emigrated or are planning to do so rose to 64 percent from 60 percent in the previous year, the survey said.
Most of those leaving, or planning to, are looking for permanent residency overseas - the United States, Europeand Canada are top picks. Very few want to give up their nationality, perhaps because their outlook for China is improving.
The report showed millionaires' confidence in China's economy rose for the first time in five years but those who felt "extremely confident" still accounted for only 31 percent of those surveyed.
The survey's results are based on responses from 393 Chinese millionaires, or those with personal wealth of at least 10 million yuan ($1.65 million). The Hurun Research Institute has conducted the survey for the past 10 years. ($1 = 6.0460 Chinese yuan)
(Editing by Miral Fahmy)

Luxury Goods In China Have Lost Their Luster

<ul class="summary-list"><li>America has a retirement crisis on its hands.</li><li>But there are things the US can do to help people better prepare for post-work life, Larry Fink said.</li></ul>America has a real <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-crisis-social-security-pensions-student-loan-debt-2024-3">retirement crisis</a> on its hands — and there are three things it can do to help solve it, according to BlackRock chief Larry Fink.In his annual <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-annual-chairmans-letter" target="_blank" rel="noopener">letter</a> to investors, the CEO of the world's biggest asset manager pointed to an unfolding crisis for current and future retirees. Over half of Americans over the age of 65 are <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-crisis-social-security-poverty-older-americans-savings-inequality-2024-3">living off less than $30,000 a year</a>, according to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-crisis-social-security-pensions-student-loan-debt-2024-3">2022 Census data</a>. Meanwhile, 45% of middle-income households risk not keeping up with their pre-retirement living standards once they turn 65, according to data from the <a href="https://crr.bc.edu/the-national-retirement-risk-index-version-2-0/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Center for Retirement Research</a>. That's complicated by the fact that Social Security may not be able to provide the same support for younger workers when they reach retirement age, Fink said. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/publication/59340#:~:text=Social%20Security%20Trust%20Fund%20Ratios&amp;text=A%20trust%20fund%20is%20exhausted,exhausted%20in%20fiscal%20year%202033." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Old-Age and Survivors Insurance Trust Fund</a>, one fund within the Social Security program, is expected to be depleted within the next 10 years."As a society, we focus a tremendous amount of energy on helping people live longer lives. But not even a fraction of that effort is spent helping people afford those years," Fink said. "Today in America, the retirement message that the government and companies tell their workers is effectively: 'You're on your own.'"That needs to be changed, he said, detailing three ways the US could better prepare people for retirement age.<h3>1. Make investing automatic for workers</h3>Americans have fallen behind on their retirement savings, largely because many can't afford to set aside cash for the future, while a large portion of workers — around 57 million, according to the AARP — don't have access to a <a href="https://press.aarp.org/2022-7-13-New-AARP-Research-Nearly-Half-Americans-Do-Not-Have-Access-to-Retirement-Plans-at-Work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">retirement plan at work</a>.46% of Americans aged 55-65 <a href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/scfindex.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener">don't have any cash invested in a personal retirement account</a>, according to 2022 Census data. More intuitive investment options, like <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/target-date-funds">target date funds</a> and mandates for employers to contribute to a retirement plan for their employees, may be able to help, Fink suggested.He pointed to the Superannuation Guarantee, an automatic employer contribution program based in Australia. That prevented the nation from heading into a retirement crisis in the 90s, with Australia now home to one of the largest retirement systems in the world."As a nation, we should do everything we can to make retirement investment more automatic for workers," he said.<h3>2. Help retirees spend their savings</h3>Most retirees are uncomfortable dipping into their pile of savings. The average retiree still had 80% of their pre-retirement cash even nearly 20 years after exiting the workforce, according to a <a href="https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/literature/whitepaper/spending-retirement-assets-final-whitepaper.pdf">2018 BlackRock survey</a>. That trend has led BlackRock to develop its LifePath Paycheck, a program that will automatically dole out paychecks to retirees from their retirement accounts. "The retirement paradox has a simple explanation: Even people who know how to save for retirement still don't know how to spend for it," Fink said. <h3>3. Give young people a reason to want to invest</h3>Fear is one of the main obstacles preventing young people from investing in their retirement, Fink said. Just 40% of 12th graders say it's "<a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/gen-z-voters-election-tiktok-5bcdc524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hard to have hope for the world</a>," according to a University of Michigan public sentiment survey.That compares to public sentiment in the mid-90s and early 2000s, when 60% of 12th graders said they were optimistic about earning a degree, obtaining a good job, and obtaining more wealth than their parents, a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/gen-z-voters-election-tiktok-5bcdc524" target="_blank" rel="noopener">separate analysis</a> found. "I've been worker in finance for almost 50 years. I've seen a lot of numbers. But no single data point has ever concerned me more than this one," Fink said. "If future generations don't feel hopeful about this country and their future in it, then the US doesn't only lose the force that makes people want to invest. America will lose what makes it America."Better solutions to prepare young people for retirement is one such way to boost hope, he added."Perhaps the best way to start building hope is by telling young people, 'You may not feel very hopeful about your future. But we do. And we're going to help you invest in it,'" Fink said.Retirement is increasingly seen as a luxury, especially among millennials and Gen Z. <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/sustainable-inclusive-growth/future-of-america/how-does-gen-z-see-its-place-in-the-working-world-with-trepidation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">23% of Gen Zers say they don't expect to ever retire</a>, according to a 2022 McKinsey &amp; Company survey, the most pessimistic outlook of any age group.

3 things America can do to solve its retirement crisis, according to BlackRock chief Larry Fink

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Knight Frank's new wealth report shows that about 70 people a day became uber-rich last year.</li><li>The total number of people worth at least $30 million rose by 4.2% to about 627,000 worldwide.</li></ul>Almost 70 people a day joined the ranks of the uber-wealthy last year, Knight Frank has revealed.The newly minted members boosted the worldwide number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) by 4.2% to about 627,000, the real estate group said in its latest <a target="_blank" href="https://www.knightfrank.com/wealthreport">Wealth Report</a> released on Wednesday.A net worth of at least $30 million is required to be classed as a UHNWI. However, it only takes $5.8 million to rank in the top 1% of wealthy Americans, Knight Frank said.North America had the fastest growth among the world's regions, with its UHNWIs rising by 7.2%. That reflected a strong showing from US stocks and a <a target="_blank" href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/economy-stock-market-rally-federal-reserve-inflation-recession-soft-landing-2024-2">buoyant US economy</a> as inflation cooled, hopes for <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-ai-is-changing-everything">AI advances</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/interest-rates-fed-pauses-increases-december-rate-cuts-powell-inflation-2023-12">interest-rate cuts</a> grew, growth proved resilient, and unemployment stayed at historic lows."The improving interest rate outlook, the robust performance of the US economy, and a sharp uptick in equity markets helped wealth creation globally," said Liam Bailey, global head of research at Knight Frank, in a press release.Affluent people benefited from other assets rising in price as well. Gold gained 15%, bitcoin jumped 155%, residential property values in the world's top markets rose by 3.1%, and rents climbed at triple their long-term average pace, Knight Frank said.On the other hand, the Knight Frank Luxury Investment Index suffered a rare decline of less than 1%. While prices for art, jewelry, and watches rose, the value of whisky, cars, handbags, and furniture declined.<h2>Millennials set to get richer</h2>Knight Frank also projected a 28% surge in the total number of wealthy people over the next five years, led by India and mainland China.Moreover, it heralded the transfer of $90 trillion of assets from older generations to millennials over the next two decades, which it expects to create "the richest generation in history."Strikingly, women accounted for just 11% of UHNWIs worldwide, although that was up from 8% less than 10 years ago.Wealthy boomers also seem more pessimistic about markets and the economy, with only 52% predicting their wealth will grow in the next year, compared to 7% of the Gen Z members surveyed.Fewer than 10% of boomers expect to buy a home this year, compared to more than 20% of millennials.The difference might reflect that more boomers already own homes; they're more concerned about taking on a mortgage when rates are near a 20-year high; or they're more worried about a stock-market crash or recession and thus reluctant to make any big outlays.

Almost 630,000 people worldwide are now worth at least $30 million, Knight Frank says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>US furniture retailers like RH and Williams-Sonoma are struggling to sell products in a tight housing market.</li><li>The unaffordable housing market is stretching wallets and making new furniture less of a priority for buyers.</li></ul>High mortgage rates and expensive property prices have made <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/commodities/housing-market-explained-mortgage-rates-fed-inventory-home-prices-house-2023-6">buying a home increasingly unaffordable</a>, but the repercussions extend beyond just the housing market.Furniture retailers have reported weaker sales as Americans, who are struggling to break into the housing market, aren't buying the usual amount of couches, tables, and home goods. "We continue to expect the luxury housing market and broader economy to remain challenging throughout fiscal 2023 and into next year as mortgage rates continue to trend at 20-year highs," furniture seller RH said in its latest earnings report last week.During the quarter ending July 29, the high-end retailer reported a 19% drop in revenue.Similarly, Williams-Sonoma, the brand behind Pottery Barn and West Elm, <a href="https://ir.williams-sonomainc.com/investor-information/news-releases/news-release-details/2023/Williams-Sonoma-Inc.-announces-second-quarter-2023-results/default.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> an 11.9% year-over-year decline for sales in the second-quarter, and net revenues dropped 13%. Profits fell from $928.81 million in the same quarter last year to $757.56 million. The company revised their outlook for 2023 to expect a lower net revenue growth, in the range of -5% and -10%.Then there's Virginia-based furniture retailer Hooker Furnishings, which <a href="https://investors.hookerfurnishings.com/news-releases/news-release-details/hooker-furnishings-reports-second-quarter-sales-and-earnings" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a> a 36% drop in second-quarter revenue compared to a year ago, from $152.91 million to $97.8 million."We believe there are conflicting signals in the economy," Hooker Furnishings chief executive Jeremy Hoff said during the company's earnings call. "A housing shortage and the over 20-year high on fixed mortgage rates has slowed down housing activity. The continued rise in interest rates has suppressed consumer confidence."Adding on to the headwinds comes a new Bloomberg investor survey that concluded <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/us-consumer-spending-could-invert-by-early-2024-household-savings-2023-9">the resilient US consumer is about to lose steam</a> by early next year. Over half of respondents anticipate that personal consumption will shrink in 2024.To that point, economists at the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank have said that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/us-households-on-brink-household-savings-dry-up-september-fed-2023-9?utm_medium=ingest&amp;utm_source=markets&amp;_gl=1*1hfh3w7*_ga*MjA5NTAyMzYyOS4xNjYyNDcwMDc5*_ga_E21CV80ZCZ*MTY5NDUzMDY1OS4xMjYxLjEuMTY5NDUzNTczOC41OS4wLjA.">excess savings from the pandemic could evaporate as soon as this month</a>. That bodes poorly for furniture retail sellers that are already under pressure.US households are seeing high borrowing costs eat into their savings, which in turn limits how much they can spend on home goods and other items. So far, resilient spending has staved off a deep recession, but if that dries up, so could the fortunes of the economy.

One unintended consequence of the unaffordable housing market: Crashing furniture sales

<ul class="summary-list"><li>The US housing market has slowed dramatically over the past year, RH CEO Gary Friedman said.</li><li>Soaring interest rates have hit housing demand, and the banking fiasco is a fresh blow, he said.</li></ul>The US housing market is suffering a major downturn as historic inflation, surging interest rates,and banking-sector turmoil rattle the wider economy, RH CEO Gary Friedman has warned."It's not rocket science to know this is a really bad time," he said on the luxury-furniture retailer's fourth-quarter earnings call, according to a transcript provided by AlphaSense/Sentieo."The fact is, we've been in a massive housing recession for the past year," Friedman continued, adding that "accelerating weakness" in the sector could weigh on his company's revenue and profits for several quarters.The executive pointed to a <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230310005120/en/Luxury-Home-Purchases-Sink-a-Record-45-to-the-Second-Lowest-Level-on-Record" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recent Redfin report</a> showing that luxury home sales slumped 45% year-on-year in the three months ending January 31, while non-luxury home sales dropped by a record 38%.Moreover, he flagged a <a href="https://www.mba.org/news-and-research/newsroom/news/2023/03/08/mortgage-applications-increase-in-latest-mba-weekly-survey" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mortgage Bankers Association survey</a> that found home-purchase applications plunged 42% year-on-year in the week ending March 3, and refinancing activity dropped by 76%."The data points to business in our sector likely getting worse before it gets better," Friedman said, pointing to pressure on stocks and banks as additional headwinds.The RH boss said he was worried about <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-banking-crisis-is-unfolding-worldwide-how-bad-is-it-2023-3">three US banks folding</a> earlier this month. He also expressed concern that a consortium of Wall Street banks <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/first-republic-bank-rescue-sale-problems2023-3">deposited $30 billion</a> in First Republic to shore up the embattled lender's balance sheet and stave off <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/silicon-valley-bank-failure-what-happened-bank-run-explained-2023-3">another bank run</a>."I've been on the planet for long enough to know this is not normal, and this is dangerous," he said.Friedman warned the economic outlook is more uncertain today than in 2008 and 2009, after the housing bubble burst and the Great Recession took hold. He noted there wasn't an inflation problem or as much political unrest back then.The business leader also urged the Federal Reserve — which has hiked interest rates from nearly zero to upwards of 4.75% over the past year to crush inflation — not to strangle the economy.Higher rates can ease upward pressure on prices by making borrowing more costly and encouraging saving over spending. But they can also erode demand, pulling down asset prices and raising the risk of a recession."Just land the plane on the other side, whether it's hard, whether it's bumpy," Friedman said. "Just don't completely crash. A complete crash would look like the '70s and the '80s. That will take over a decade to recover from."Several experts have sounded the alarm on the housing market and economy. David Rosenberg, the president of Rosenberg Research, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/david-rosenberg-stocks-crypto-house-prices-inflation-recession-fed-portfolio-2023-2">told Insider</a> in February that he expects house prices to slump by 15% to 20%, and a recession to take hold.Meanwhile, Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jeremy-siegel-wharton-stocks-house-prices-market-outlook-predictions-fed-2023-2">cautioned</a> earlier this month that house prices could fall 15% from their peak, and <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wharton-jeremy-siegel-stock-market-outlook-recession-fed-banks-rates-2023-3">warned</a> this week that the risk of the recession has increased.

The US housing market is tanking - and the banking fiasco could make things worse, RH CEO Gary Friedman says

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some DINKs are using their higher net worth to retire early, travel, and afford <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-dink-childfree-lifestyle-retirement-savings-buy-boats-convertible-2024-2">luxury items</a>.</li><li>But others are childless due to financial constraints and the high costs of raising a child.</li></ul>If you've heard the acronym <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/meet-typical-dink-double-income-no-kid-net-worth-retirement-2023-11">DINK</a> lately, you might have this publication to blame.In recent months, we've written about DINKs — Dual Income, No Kids — using their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/net-worth-dink-child-free-couples-win-the-economy-2023-10">inflated net worths</a> to retire early, travel the world, and buy boats.For some, being a DINK is almost like a cheat code for achieving <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/dink-couple-retire-early-loves-livestyle-travel-pickleball-freedom-2023-12">the American dream</a>: It allows adults to sidestep the economic walls closing in on many millennials and Gen Zers struggling to afford housing, childcare, and healthcare. DINKs are in a better position to buy houses, go on vacations, and plan to retire early.But it's not all <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/parents-dinks-winning-childfree-economy-finances-income-vacation-retirement-kids-2024-2">romantic getaways</a> and immaculate houses.Even people who are happy to be childfree sometimes feel left behind or isolated in a culture that still deems <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-choosing-dink-lifestyle-child-free-child-centered-world-2024-2">parenthood the correct life path</a>. But there's an even darker side to DINKs: The slice that forgoes kids not by choice but out of necessity. These are the Americans who would love to be parents but find that they can't swing it financially. They're more accurately described as childless rather than childfree.It's difficult to parse out the exact number of Americans who might want kids but can't have them. We know that the childfree group — people who don't want kids — <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0283301">might be about 20% of the US adult population</a>. But it's harder to track down the people who might otherwise have kids were the circumstances different.A <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/finance/2024-cost-of-raising-children-report">survey</a> from NerdWallet and Harris Poll polling over 2,000 US adults in December found that 56% of non-parents don't plan to have kids. Of this group, 31% said that the "overall cost of raising a child is too high.""The big takeaway — and what really stood out to me — is just how big the cost of having kids looms for both current parents who are considering having more kids, and also people who don't have children yet," Kimberly Palmer, personal finance expert at NerdWallet, told BI.In an economy as large as the US's, any story about the economy is probably true somewhere. It's why some industries can't fill <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jobs-unemployment-work-labor-market-wage-growth-in-february-2024-3">open jobs</a> while people in other professions struggle to find a new role, or why a country where jobs are abundant and wages on the rise also has a housing and childcare affordability crisis — and a dreary general economic outlook. And when it comes to DINKs, that duality is true as well — for some, it's a boon; for others, it's less of a choice than a need."We have over 150 million people working in the US economy," Kathryn Edwards, an economist at the RAND Corporation, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ghost-jobs-why-some-companies-dont-respond-to-applications-2022-9">previously told BI</a>. "Whatever can be true is true for at least one person. Having that many workers means that you can have two true stories that are in absolute conflict, and it totally makes sense that they're both in our labor market."While there are signs that our society is coming to greater acceptance of childfree people, evidence points to our economy moving in the opposite direction. A Business Insider calculation earlier this year found that <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-much-kids-cost-raising-child-inflation-childcare-tax-exemptions-2024-1">parents could spend $26,000</a> raising a kid in 2024. As birth rates are dropping, costs for housing, childcare, and medical care are rising. It's contributing to a whole population of DINKs who can't afford to shed the moniker.<h2>'We're fine with a single mom working 60 hours a week paying for daycare'</h2>Larry Bienz, 38, is a social worker and DINK in Chicago. He said he might be a parent in a different country, one with different priorities and infrastructure. But he's chosen not to be in this one.In our society, Bienz said, "the first and foremost priority is that people are working in a job. Everything else comes after making sure that we are working on a job."He could imagine a life where he has kids, but the lifestyle it would require — both parents juggling jobs, housework, and childcare on little sleep — just doesn't seem sustainable.Bienz already feels like he doesn't have enough time to invest in not just pleasure activities but also being civically engaged and part of his community. Layer onto that, as Bienz notes, a country with a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/current-federal-minimum-wage-is-13-years-old-inflation-impact-2022-7">stagnant minimum wage</a> and without guaranteed paid leave or affordable healthcare, where parents rely on underpaid educators and day care workers. Meanwhile, in other countries, parents can have up to a year of paid parental leave guaranteed."Our system says, 'Oh, it's okay. You can get up to 12 weeks unpaid and you won't get fired from your job," Bienz said. "It's like, what a joke. 'Oh, I won't get fired for my job if I want to stay home with my baby for a while!'"Bienz pointed to the example of the "welfare queen" — a concept "packed full of racism" — as an example of what it feels like the system won't allow: Someone using public resources to feed and house their family without working a job."The one thing we can't live with is a welfare queen," he said. "We're perfectly fine with, let's just say, a single mom working 60 hours a week paying for daycare."<h2>That'll be $30,000, please</h2>Amelia and Kevin desperately want to be parents.The couple — who are 37 and 43 respectively — have been trying to get pregnant for 18 months. They've bought a bigger house in a good school district in anticipation of the kids who would come. But there's no baby for them yet. And in a country where reproductive care is more scant by the moment, and health insurance only offers a piecemeal approach to affording treatment, they're having to think about how much, exactly, they can afford to spend on the act of having a child."We're the ideal situation. We're a happily married couple. We have good jobs, we're well educated," Amelia, whose last name is known to BI but withheld for privacy reasons, said. "What infertility feels like — it feels like every month you're attending a class and at the end of the month you go to take the final and the teacher comes up to you and goes, what are you doing? You're not in this class."The couple hasn't yet invested in medical interventions like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pay-for-ivf-iui-fertility-treatment-credit-card-2024-2">intrauterine insemination (IUI) or in vitro fertilization (IVF)</a> yet, but have already spent over $1,000 on treatments, therapy, and doctor's visits — and that's with insurance. More in-depth treatment, like IVF, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/coverage-and-use-of-fertility-services-in-the-u-s/">likely wouldn't be covered</a>, they said. And that's before considering any other potential risks, as reproductive rights and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-alabama-ivf-ruling-gop-republicans-2024-biden-2024-2">access to IVF</a> become more imperiled in the US.The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.reproductivefacts.org/patient-journeys/in-vitro-fertilization-treatment/">American Society for Reproductive Medicine estimates</a> that the average cost of an IVF cycle is $12,400, and other estimates <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/article/ivf-treatment-costs-guide.html">have it coming in closer to $25,000</a>. Meanwhile, adoption in the US can end up costing anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000, per the <a target="_blank" href="https://cwig-prod-prod-drupal-s3fs-us-east-1.s3.amazonaws.com/public/documents/s_costs.pdf">US Children's Bureau</a>. Comparatively, the <a target="_blank" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSA646N">median household income</a> in the US is $74,580, meaning a household trying to embark upon parenthood through nontraditional means might be putting over a third of their earnings toward it.As countries around the world bemoan falling population rates and some politicians in the US try to limit <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/these-are-the-5-us-states-where-hardest-get-abortion-2023-4">access to abortion</a>, Amelia thinks the government could step in."Everyone's saying you shouldn't abort, you should put your kid up for adoption, you should adopt. I'm like, great, let us adopt," Amelia said. "Oh no, that'd be $30,000, please."Amelia's not alone: In the NerdWallet survey of people who were not parents, 11% of respondents said it was because the cost of infertility treatments was too high, and 10% similarly said that the cost of adoption is too high. Those high costs are also colliding with a perfect reproductive storm as treatments like IVF <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/alabama-judge-rules-frozen-embryos-are-people-ivf-2024-2">become potentially even riskier</a>."In Michigan, we saw a big jump in the number of child-free people following the overturning of Roe v. Wade," Zachary Neal, a professor in Michigan State University's psychology department's social-personality program, told me. In anecdotal responses in a <a target="_blank" href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0294459">landmark study</a> of childfree adults Neal conducted with fellow Michigan State psychology professor — and his wife — Jennifer Neal, men were even thinking about the decision's repercussions, saying that they would not want to expose their partner to potential medical risks. "Both men and women are thinking in this climate, it just became too risky to be a pregnant person."<h2>The baby elephant in the room</h2>Priscilla Davies is a 41-year-old actor, writer, and content creator. As an elder millennial, she's seen the ups and downs of multiple "economic crises." Davies is single and childfree by choice — in part because of the ways that marriage places <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-straight-relationships-are-doomed-according-to-sex-researcher-2020-12">uneven gendered burdens upon women.</a>"The establishment calls out the issues — they call it out from the wrong angle — and they're like, 'Oh, millennials are killing families. They don't want to have children. They're so selfish. They're always coming at it from the wrong angle as opposed to calling out what the issue is. And it's basically an elephant in the room," Davies said. "We all know that this economic system does not work."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennial-gen-z-parents-struggle-lonely-childcare-costs-money-friends-2023-11">Younger parents</a> have told Business Insider that the idea of the caretaking village has been washed away by ever-higher costs, skyrocketing rents, grandparents still working, and the loss of safe third spaces for kids and parents alike to congregate. Without a village, parenthood feels even more untenable."We should be providing financial assistance to parents. Just point blank, period. You have a child, we as a social society are invested in our children, so let's help people raise their children and that community, unfortunately — because we live in this hyper-capitalistic environment — that community is going to have to come at this stage from money," Davies said.The tale of two DINKs — those who have happily opted into the lifestyle and others who have been pushed in — might sound like a story of diverging paths. But, ultimately, they're sides of the same coin: They want to have a choice.For the DINKs who are happily living it up, that means the choice to exist peacefully and respectfully as a childfree adult. It means a world that respects their choices and can envision something beyond a traditional family structure that provides meaning, love, and satisfaction.And for the DINKs-by-default, it means a path to parenthood, no matter their financial standing.Right now, though, neither is reality. And that's leading childfree and childless people alike to experience isolation and difficult calculations. As for Amelia and Kevin, they said they're taking it one step at a time."It really comes down to do you have the money to have a child? And that's a very depressing situation to be in," Amelia said. "How much is a child worth it to you? Isn't a child worth $30,000? Isn't it worth it to you? I'm like, of course it's worth it, but I don't have $30,000."Are you unable to become a parent because of costs or lack of social safety nets? Contact this reporter at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:jkaplan@businessinsider.com">jkaplan@businessinsider.com</a>.

The dark side of DINKs: People who want kids but can't afford them 

At age 36, Jace Mattinson is already over <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/retirement-peak-boomer-alice-social-security-masters-degree-student-loans-2024-5">retirement</a>. Four years ago, he sold his lumber company for seven figures, and he had enough saved that he never needed to work again.He said that was an enticing idea after five "extremely tough" years of owning a business. During that time, he was away from his home in Austin a few nights a week and hustling to run the 135-year-old company he'd acquired. After selling the company, he needed a long break from anything laborious."I was golfing three, four times a week. I was going to the lake. I was doing all my hobbies that I really cared about and enjoyed, ones that for the greater part of a decade I didn't have as much time to do," Mattinson told Business Insider.But after eight months, he decided <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/planned-retirement-until-discovered-fire-2024-04">retirement</a> was not nearly as fulfilling as he'd imagined. He returned to a job in lumber distribution and revived his financial podcast. He said he wanted to continue to model a good work ethic for his kids.<div type="image" title="Jace Mattison" height="3024" width="4032" msid="110229499" hostid="261" sizebytes="1621048"></div>Mattinson has all the trappings of someone in the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/financial-independence-retire-early-fire-millennial-income-wealthy-business-owners-2024-4">FIRE movement</a>. The acronym, which stands for financial independence, retire early, was coined in the 1990s in the book "Your Money or Your Life" and popularized on blogs like Mr. Money Mustache and the investment site Motley Fool. The idea was to work hard, ideally with multiple income streams, live a life of austerity, invest prudently, and build a big enough nest egg to walk away from work well before the average retirement age of 64.But millennials, including Mattinson, who finds himself happiest when he has a balance of work and leisure, said they're not as interested in early retirement — and are creating their own versions of life after work.<h2>Millennials often want the FI without the RE</h2>Devotees of the FIRE movement often <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-save-money-savings-strategies-tips-advice-super-savers-2022-1">save or invest the majority of their income</a>. Some take on extra jobs or delay major life milestones like marriage or having kids.It's an exclusive club, and many hungry millennials are eager to join it. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/ChooseFI/">ChooseFI's Facebook group</a> has over 108,000 members, while the r/financialindependence subreddit has 2.2 million members. But for some FIRE wannabes, the "FI" part of the equation is the biggest focus, and the "RE" half seems to be less of a foregone conclusion.A popular rule of thumb among this group is the "4% rule," which says you should aim to save 25 times your annual expenses so you can withdraw 4% of your funds each year after you quit working. Some FIRE participants told BI that their target savings goal is between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, though many are working toward more for even greater security.To be sure, early retirees are a small slice of the population. According to Business Insider's analysis of American retirees, just 2.2% are 50 or younger. Less than 1% are below age 35. Just 0.75% of all Americans over 18 and under 50 are retired. Still, many BI spoke with retire unofficially or partially retire, taking on less responsibility at a company or moving to a lower-stakes position.BI spoke to a dozen millennials who have achieved or are on track to achieve financial independence. While some have retired and told BI they're enjoying it, most feel retirement is pointless and still want to build their careers or give back to their communities."The thing I have noticed shift most is the emphasis on FI and less on RE," Scott Rieckens, the executive producer of the film "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.playingwithfire.co/">Playing With FIRE</a>," said. "I think it's awesome to see, as it signals that financial independence is the key motive, which it is, and that work and purpose are actually really important. Retiring early to nothing is a bad idea."Brad Barrett, the host of the "ChooseFI" podcast, said "vanishingly few" people with the wherewithal to reach financial independence are retiring early. To him, reaching financial independence allows someone to live the life they want, but retiring early signifies turning away from everything you've worked toward.For many, financial freedom goes beyond quitting a job you don't like. Some said it's the ability to spend on travel or leisure without much stress — which has become even more important after the pandemic's peak. Others said it helps them lead a life of purpose, whether that means educating people on a podcast or leading charity efforts.The problem with retirement seems to be that people want to add value to their communities and within their own lives — and they believe work is the way to do that. As Bill Schaninger, a speaker, author, and thought leader on the future of work, found in research he conducted with Naina Dhingra <a target="_blank" href="https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-search-for-purpose-at-work">for McKinsey</a>, 70% of people who were surveyed said they define their purpose through work."Many people figured out one of the things that I get a lot of validation from is being clever, solving problems, participating, and working on something bigger than me," Schaninger told BI.COVID-19 may have amplified this, he added. "The fragility of our condition, I think, was brought home in a way that maybe many of us had taken for granted," he said. "And so now it's like, 'Well, if I'm going to do this, it has to matter.'"<h2>The millennial version of early retirement</h2>Mitch, 37, said he is about to quit his high-stress job and take a mini-retirement — he has a 22-stop national parks trip planned this summer.The Minnesota resident and vice president of a building-maintenance company, who asked that only his first name be used because of an ongoing job transition, has a net worth of about $2 million but said he's only planning to take a few months off before returning to the workforce in a lower-stress position. All the sources BI spoke with provided documentation of their net worth.Mitch said he stumbled into the online personal-finance community in his early 30s, which inspired him and his wife to increase their savings to at least 75% of their income by avoiding spending on luxury items. He said even his high savings won't affect his decision to quit working."I think a lot of traditional retirees lack purpose — they take a year or two of retirement and hate it because they do whatever and lose purpose," Mitch said. "The ones that volunteer, continue to coach and consult, or do whatever it is to sharpen their brain and really have a purpose tend to be some of the happiest retirees."<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-make-money-podcasting-advice-financial-independence-2023-11">Brian Luebben, a financially independent millennial</a>, described having a panic attack shortly after he hit FI and quit his sales job."If you have anxiety, financial freedom is not going to solve it," he said. "If you have depression, financial freedom is not going to solve it. Be careful of the mountaintop moments. When you become a millionaire, when you become financially free, when you do all this stuff, no mariachi band follows you around and performs."He argued that achieving financial independence and hitting a specific number is "the simplest part." After all, there's a playbook for wealth-building strategies like investing in real estate or building an e-commerce business."The most difficult part is figuring out what you do when you have nothing to do all day," he said. "What do you choose to work on?"Luebben, who hosts a podcast and runs the entrepreneur resource <a target="_blank" href="https://theactionacademy.co/">The Action Academy</a> to help other people achieve financial freedom, said people should think through four core questions before they're even close to achieving financial independence: "What does the perfect day look like? What does the perfect week look like? Who was with you? And where?"Going through that exercise can help ensure that your identity doesn't become wrapped up in achieving FIRE, which is something that Grant Sabatier, who took a year and a half off from work after achieving financial independence, struggled with."I defined myself by the pursuit of financial independence," Sabatier, the author of "<a target="_blank" href="https://grantsabatier.com/books/financial-freedom-book/">Financial Freedom</a>," said. "Then, once I reached it, it was like, now I no longer had to do that thing, so what am I going to do? I encourage people on the path to do that inner work. Don't delay figuring out what you really want, why you're pursuing financial independence, and what you want to do after."<h2>Balancing work and fun</h2>Instead of a traditional retirement, many financially independent millennials are finding a balance between work and leisure that works for them.For Sabina Horrocks, 41, becoming a millionaire was "quite boring." She and her husband worked in six-figure managerial positions, recently achieving a net worth of about $2 million, then had a daughter in 2021. They "plowed money into investments early on," kept daily expenditures low, and purchased rental properties they eventually sold.<div type="image" title="Sabina Horrocks with her husband and kid" height="3360" width="4480" msid="110229500" hostid="261" sizebytes="534462"></div>She quit her sales operations job but has no intention of stopping work. She's a stay-at-home mom and plans to continue her blog <a target="_blank" href="https://themoneyaires.com/">The Moneyaires</a>; she'd also like to become a financial coach or planner.Blogging and coaching were common post-FI pursuits among the would-be early retirees BI spoke to. Michelle Schroeder-Gardner, 34, runs the blog <a target="_blank" href="https://www.makingsenseofcents.com/">Making Sense of Cents</a>, and over the past decade, she and her husband have lived mostly in an RV or a sailboat.By 2017, their blog, advertising sales, and a course they created called Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing had generated nearly $1.2 million in revenue. By 2018, they had achieved financial independence. After years of 100-hour workweeks, she now spends 10 hours a week on her business, which generates $600,000 a year.<div type="image" title="Husband and wife Wes and Michelle Schroeder-Gardner stood on a mountain on a sunny day." height="768" width="1024" msid="110229502" hostid="261" sizebytes="53308"></div>"I'm able to travel whenever I want. I can work whenever I want. Nothing's really dependent on my work hours," she said. "My plan is pretty much to continue doing this while I like it and continue to make a little bit more money and save as much as I can."Lauren and Steven Keys, who<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/saving-investing-strategies-couple-millennials-quit-work-retire-early-2024-2"> quit their full-time jobs in their 20s</a>, have a similar outlook.Steven does freelance work for his former employer but spends much of his time on an online-tutoring service called <a target="_blank" href="https://crambetter.com/">CramBetter</a> that he cofounded in 2023. Lauren has one social-media client she works with a couple of hours a month. They also run a financial-independence blog, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.tripofalifestyle.com/">Trip of a Lifestyle</a>, and earn rental income from a fully paid-off investment property."There's this misconception about early retirement that you'll never make another penny ever again and just sit on the beach all day for the rest of your life," Steven said. "We're never going to stop making any money whatsoever."Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Reach out these reporters at <a target="_blank" href="mailto:kelkins@businessinsider.com">kelkins@businessinsider.com</a> or <a target="_blank" href="mailto:nsheidlower@businessinsider.com">nsheidlower@businessinsider.com</a>.

Millennials have a fresh take on the FIRE movement, and it's less about taking it easy in retirement

The bars and restaurants that put the glint on New York City never stopped partying.While the rest of the country — businesses, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-sp500-recession-earnings-unemployment-jobs-report-nylife-2023-6">investors</a>, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/a-recession-is-61-likely-for-2023-economists-warn-2023-1">economists</a>, regular people — misspent 2023 in a state of anxiety, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-recession-stock-market-crash-calls-wrong-economy-housing-2023-6">waiting for a recession</a> that never came, the bastions of New York City's dining elite came out of the pandemic louder, prouder, and more extravagant than ever.Here, it's ancient Rome. And if New York City has a legalized form of popular bloodsport, it's the restaurant business.To dine at the most sought-after restaurants is an exercise in one's <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-most-popular-restaurants-dinner-nyc-resy-ranking-2020-1">capacity to tolerate rejection</a>. In old New York, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-sevenrooms-premium-restaurant-experiences-reserved-for-high-paying-diners-2023-5">money and cache</a> were the currencies that could, eventually, find you a seat wherever you wanted. But the internet and reservation apps like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/resy-wrapped-end-year-review-went-really-wrong-2023-12">Resy</a> have removed person-to-person contact in these bookings and turned scoring a coveted table into the <a target="_blank" href="https://ny.eater.com/2022/2/15/22910632/free-rezy-reservation-booking-telegram-group-manhattan-restaurants-nyc">shortest video game ever played</a>. Status still talks, but tech nerds who've programmed bots to crawl for reservations have added a disconcerting new layer. Recently, I met a man who has a constant crawl for a five-person table at a chic new restaurant. He was very proud of himself for this. I was not.The surge of demand doesn't mean everything has been easy. Food prices have risen steadily, the hot job market has made workers hard to find and keep, and, of course, there's the inexorable rise of New York City rents. Yet new restaurants have kept coming. And not just any restaurants — luxurious, maximalist restaurants with ingredients as international as the city itself.The new wave of eateries is also a stark contrast to the previous era of NYC dining. After the financial crisis, the city put on a black turtleneck à la Steve Jobs and presented everything with clean lines and prized understatement. Now it's returned to something that looks more like <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/vintage-photos-how-americas-rich-tycoons-lived-during-gilded-age-2023-3">the Gilded Age</a> — a maximalist mob-wife aesthetic that orders "more with a side of much more." The city's bars have gone rococo as well. Is there a greater vote of confidence in New York's economic recovery than opening a tiki bar that feels like a dive, hangs florals like a wedding at the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/grand-prospect-hall-commercial-2011-1">Grand Prospect Hall</a>, and asks people to pay $25 for a cocktail called "Tarman"?Beneath the city's shimmering victory over the pandemic and dining's glorious return as Gotham's favorite pastime, there's still a great divide between <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/poverty-statistics-new-york-city-most-millionaires-2024-2">the haves and the have-nots</a>. As the pandemic emergency abated, our weird new economy revealed the dramatic difference between Americans who feel they can handle an inflationary shock and those who cannot. So it makes sense that Manhattan, where the income gap is greater than any other county in the country, has been the vanguard of this American vibe revolution. It is a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cost-of-living-nyc-millionaires-wealth-tax-2023-12">granite island of hungry rich people</a> looking for something to do — Wall Street bankers, tech executives, generationally wealthy people, the famous and beautiful. In a country roiled by recession worries, those at the top of New York City — for better or worse — couldn't give a single gilded shit.<h2>The Big Apple bites back</h2>Opening a new business anywhere is an act of hope. Opening a restaurant even more so. Opening a restaurant in New York City requires the faith of a medieval saint. For an industry that already existed on a knife's edge, the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-restaurants-are-struggling-2020-12">pandemic looked like it could be a catastrophic blow</a>. Were it not for delivery apps, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/open-streets-new-york-city-increased-spending-businesses-fifth-avenue-2023-10">creative outdoor seating</a>, and many New Yorkers' stubborn resistance to learning to use their apartment kitchens, we might have lost even more of our eateries than we did. In this town, an unlisted, unmarked, hole-in-the-wall serving top-flight Xinjiang noodles can be every bit a destination as Tavern on the Green — and the food will probably be better. Even with this chaos, New York is a city that embraces bizarre circumstances, and when the pandemic took hold, that became its superpower."I think the city and New Yorkers are so different and so unfazed by it. Remember when there were a million people eating outside?" Jennifer Saesue, a Manhattan restaurateur, said.Saesue opened her first restaurant, Fish Cheeks, in 2017, and before long, it became a staple for the downtown set. During the pandemic, Fish Cheeks survived as other restaurants did — ramping up takeout and setting up outdoor seating. Saesue said that after a lull during lockdowns, its revenue clicked back into the normal cycle of the city's restaurant business: a slow start to the year, a busy spring, a slower summer, and then full-on mania starting in the fall and through the holiday season. Since then, New Yorkers staved off recession fears by simply <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-is-back-comeback-economic-recovery-reopening-2021-5">spending like it would never come </a>— especially on food, drinks, and entertainment. By the end of March 2023, nightlife spending reached 11% above pre-pandemic levels, a report from Mastercard found. It's not hard to understand why. Few people in the country lived as cramped an existence through the pandemic as New Yorkers did. Once it was over, they bet everything on the return of the institutions that form the backbone of the city's culture. The rest of the country could keep their weak vibes. For New York City, a brush with death called for a time of decadence."I feel like we are back to where we were pre-pandemic. Now more than ever, people are spending, and even more so, restaurants are opening back up," Saesue told me. "There are new, hot restaurants opening every freaking week."So that's what the city's doing now. Get into it. Clubsteraunts are back, and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cook-chef-manager-amusement-parks-gen-z-attendant-experience-economy2023-11">Gen Z</a> — a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-worried-gen-z-doesnt-have-fun-2023-12">generation that claims to dislike fun</a> — can be seen there in full force. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.grubstreet.com/article/best-nyc-restaurants-2023-wild-creative-ambition-is-back.html">city's bistros have met this enthusiasm</a> by upping their game. Chefs in New York have somehow yassified hard-boiled eggs, and LCD Soundsystem's frontman James Murphy has a restaurant that's selling them for $25. Naturally, those eggs have caviar on them. There's caviar everywhere. At Coqodaq, a just-opened Korean fried chicken restaurant that looks like a Las Vegas church, you can order a perfectly crisped nugget with caviar on it. It will cost you $28 and whatever it takes you to get through a meal while watching packs of TikTok food influencers completely lose their minds.As the kids might say, "Nature is healing." The city's affluent consists of the same Wall Street workhorses, fashion and public-relations power brokers, trust-fund babies (American and foreign), chic people, quasi-creatives of advertising, total nerds of tech, and straight-up, never-sleeping hustlers — but their tastes have changed. <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-members-only-nyc-social-club-zero-bond-9000-waitlist-2021-12">Members-only social clubs</a> and restaurants abound. The new <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/aman-club-private-members-club-nyc-photo-tour-2024-2">Aman New York has a private club</a> with a $200,000 initiation fee, and the boys who brought us Carbone have a private restaurant called ZZ's with a $20,000 initiation fee and $10,000 annual membership. There are the Casas — Cruz and Cipriani (both private clubs, no relation) — and the old mainstay Soho House, which has expanded to three locations in the city. Private clubs delineating the space between the haves and the have-nots were a feature of the first Gilded Age. Here we are again, except now the most sought-after restaurants can function almost as exclusively as clubs — know someone, wait for hours, game the digital-reservation system, beg (maybe) — and then maybe you'll get a seat at a decent time to eat, like 9:30 p.m. (if you're lucky) or 5:30 p.m. (if you've given up on fun). Saesue opened her second concept, Bangkok Supper Club, in the West Village in 2023. It was immediately met with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/21/dining/restaurant-review-bangkok-supper-club.html">critical acclaim</a> and the kind of success that makes getting a reservation an only-in-NYC kind of status symbol."Looking from where I am," Saesue told me, "it doesn't seem like people are thinking about the recession that much. I think they're talking about it, but their behavior doesn't say that."A city is lucky if it has two or three dining rooms ethereal enough to transport you to a world in which everything you see or touch is precious. In the past few years, New York has opened them at a steady clip. Most recently, the famed chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten opened Four Twenty-Five on Park Avenue, where it feels like you are dining on a crystal cloud. It's a place to watch a very classic uptown New York City crowd — an older set of ultraprofessionals, mom and dad on date night, women who have enough money but too much self-awareness to be on "Real Housewives," <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/hedge-funds-lincoln-center-fundraiser-steve-cohen-new-york-2024-3">money managers drinking</a> at the gorgeous bar after a late night at the office (<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wall-street-hamptons-party-return-office-recession-stock-market-worries-2023-7">yes, they're going to the office</a>). For these people, there must be elegance at all times.Not all of NYC nightlife is focused on making things fancy; some of it is just theatrical and fun. In the East Village, Paradise Lost transports patrons to a tiki bar located on a choppy beach near the capitol of Hell. It works because the drinks are a full-on show. The Saturn, a vintage gin cocktail that won the 1967 IBA championship, comes smoking with dry ice. And if you order the Lady of the Beasts, you'll experience what the bar calls "fire and show." Bongo drums will ring out through the bar, and your server will present the cocktail to you in a dazzle of flames. The Lady is just one of a few cocktails on the menu that come with all of that drama. If there is a hard landing for the US economy, NYC will have to meet it with a bit of a hangover. After what the city went through, it will have been worth it.<h2>The full vibespace</h2>A survey of New York City's most glimmering restaurants and competitive cocktailers is, of course, an incomplete picture of how the city is recovering. The pandemic was a violent lesson in how an inflationary shock impacts the affluent much less than everyone else. And that makes for complex vibes.According to a report from TouchBistro, a company that provides point-of-sales services to restaurants, NYC restaurant margins averaged around 9.2% in 2023, down from 10.1% a year in 2022 and just below the national average of 9.3%. Food operators said they spent 43% more on food costs in 2023 than they did in 2022, the highest jump in the country. And while <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/january-jobs-report-labor-market-good-economy-inflation-wages-2024-2">employers in other parts of the economy </a>are regaining the upper hand, staff turnover at NYC restaurants was around 31% in 2023. The national average turnover rate sat at 28%. Every restaurant is facing these issues, but businesses' ability to deal with increasing costs — while holding onto customers — varies greatly. A December survey from the New York City Hospitality Alliance found that while 37% of respondents felt positive about future business revenue, 30% percent of respondents were feeling pessimistic about the future, and another 20% felt uncertain."New York City's restaurants and bars are experiencing an uneven pandemic recovery nearly four years after COVID-19 struck our city," Andrew Rigie, the executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, said. "While some have recovered, others still struggle."The restaurant industry is a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-city-losing-rental-housing-crisis-combine-apartments-2023-10">mirror of the city</a>. The haves are being delighted in new dining rooms and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-home-250-million-nyc-penthouse-central-park-tower-2022-9">glittering new high-rises</a>. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/median-wage-people-leaving-nyc-financial-pipe-dream-2023-12">have-nots are experiencing</a> the trauma of a record number of evictions, especially in Brooklyn and The Bronx, and the <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-rent-keeps-hitting-record-highs-despite-migration-from-city-2023-8">squeeze of record-high rents</a>. No one seems to have an answer for New York's housing crisis, where rental vacancies dropped to 1.4% in 2023 — a healthy rate is considered somewhere between 5% and 8%.Nationwide, in the aggregate, restaurants are growing. Sales reached a seasonally-adjusted rate of $95.01 billion in January, up 0.7% from December and the 11th month of consecutive growth. But that doesn't mean the mood is great: 97% of restaurant owners are worried about higher food costs, according to a survey from the National Restaurant Association, and 38% say they didn't make money last year. That's a lot of have-nots. In a moment when food prices are volatile at best and workers are hard to come by, most of the restaurant industry has to make hard decisions. As <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/restaurants-america-eating-out-crisis-your-fault-labor-shortage-tipping-2024-2">Corey Mintz argued</a> in this very publication, we may hate what it takes to save restaurants — more self-service, higher prices — but we may not have a choice. I don't care how many times the Nasdaq punches new highs — this does not make for good vibes. Restaurants are pinched, in part, because their <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-youre-still-spending-much-of-your-budget-on-food-2024-2">patrons are pinched</a>, too. Yes, the rest of the country is starting to see what New York City has been seeing: The worst is over. The <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/consumer-confidence-economy-stock-market-gas-prices-eggs-vibes-recession-2024-1">University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index</a> showed significant improvement over the past two months, and the outlook for inflation continues to improve. This is fantastic news for the country, but as analysts at UBS pointed out in a recent note to clients, just because we're not feeling bad doesn't mean we necessarily feel good."These are encouraging developments and sentiment should continue to improve as disinflation progresses, the Fed cuts rates and real incomes keep rising," the UBS analysts wrote. "In short, the vibecession for the public at large may be over, but the vibespansion has a long way to go."Inflation hurts everyone, but it is catastrophic for people who are just getting by — or just starting to save a little bit. In an extremely cringeworthy interview, WK Kellogg CEO Gary Pilnick seemed <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/kelloggs-cereal-for-dinner-meal-backlash-price-inflation-pilnick-money-2024-2">excited</a> when he said his company's cereal-for-dinner messaging was "landing really well.""Cereal for dinner is something that is probably more on trend now, and we would expect to continue as that consumer is under pressure," he said. Since 1978, CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,460%, thanks mostly to stock-based compensation. When prices go up dramatically, those who can afford it may see it and know it, but they don't feel it. Those who can't, apparently, make Gary Pilnick's day.If a pandemic can't defeat New York City, a little inflation certainly isn't going to do it. What it will do, though, is reveal the structural weaknesses in our society. The city's last Gilded Age was as much a time of growth and vitality as it was a time of corruption and inequality. It was a warning for this town and the whole country. Watching post-pandemic inflation at work is a warning, too. It showed what it looks like when this American economy experiences a short, sharp shock. And what that looks like is the affluent in New York City eating caviar, and poorer Americans eating cereal.<a target="_blank" rel="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/author/linette-lopez">Linette Lopez</a> is a senior correspondent at Business Insider.

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