Let’s open this article with some quick facts. Millennials, people born between 1980 and 1995 hold 4.6% of the wealth in America. In comparison, their Boomer parents and grandparents hold 53.2%. When comparing like for like at that same age, Boomers held 22% more wealth than Millennials do today. That’s a stark difference. Rather than debating its fairness or justness or even how we got here, I’d like to instead look toward the future, specifically, Millennials’ potential to claim it.

When Boomers were coming of age, life looked much different than it did for younger generations. It was once far more common and feasible to start a career right out of high school. In comparison, Millennials are more likely to first go to college, just one factor that has delayed their strongest earning years. This has rippled out, further delaying milestones like home ownership, itself an incredible tool for wealth creation. Boomers benefited from the rise of the housing market, the stock market, the telecommunications boom and the dotcom boom. These were all huge wealth creation events for both Boomers and Gen Xers. As the saying goes, money makes money, and that’s exactly what has happened for those two more senior generations.   

As a Millennial myself, I fully understand my generation’s frustrations. But instead of focusing my attention there, I’m going to focus on what can be done. Life expectancy has changed dramatically in just a few generations. Boomers are living far longer than their parents and grandparents. And the optimist in me expects that trend to continue for Millennials. In other words, our time is coming, and we still have a whole lot of it.     

With that in mind, I want to touch on several major economic opportunities—which are either upon us or in the not-too-distant future—that will level the playing field of wealth creation and ownership for rising generations. 

The Explosion of Web3:

Earlier this year, Citibank was quoted saying that in the next 10 years, the metaverse could have created an $8 to $13 trillion addressable market. There are other statistics that seem far more conservative—with that number somewhere nearer to $1 trillion—however, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that this new immersive way of traversing the internet will become a huge wealth creator. Digital natives, Millennials and Gen Z have an advantage here as they have their finger on the pulse of emerging technologies; in fact, a predicted 94% of all crypto purchases come from those two generations. It’s clear that we are ready to invest in the future.   

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The Rise of the Clean Energy Sector: 

The renewable energy market is growing at an incredible rate, predicted to hit a market value of around $2 trillion by 2030. Yet this forecast remains small in comparison to the global demand for energy that exists and the undoubted need to find renewable, clean sources of energy. We will see more technology companies as well as global conglomerates appear almost overnight to meet the world’s demand. Such growth will require capital and will present one of the largest wealth creation events in the history of humankind. 

Space Exploration: 

Only in June this year, we saw AstroForge book its first test mission with SpaceX. The tiny startup has already raised $13 million from investors to fund its mission to go to space and begin mining asteroids. The potential for this emerging industry alone is immense. Our solar system’s asteroid belt is estimated to contain $700 quintillion worth of resources. Yes, you read that correctly. And that’s just mining asteroids. There is also going to be a major requirement for defense, as we prepare for potential threats to our planet; looking at history, on average, a life-threatening meteor hits planet Earth every 500,000 years. We will need to continue developing technology to prevent this, which means investment in infrastructure and technology that, as a planet and economy, we have never seen before.  

As we begin to truly venture into space, a whole new world of rules and laws presents itself. I had the pleasure of speaking to a young lawyer, Lucy Guest, who talked of the future need for “space law” and how an entire new solar system of governance will have to exist beyond our planet as both governments and private companies begin to truly explore and colonize our neighboring planets, moons and asteroids. This is no longer science fiction, though it’s just as exciting. According to Forbes, private investors poured $14.5 billion into space companies in 2021, an increase of 50% over 2020, when $9.8 billion was invested. To give some context, more was invested into space companies in 2 years by private companies than has been invested in the entire history of my industry, Human Resource Technology. And as an industry, HRTech places every human in America into a Job. That gives you an indication of how serious investors are for space investment. 

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Crypto and Investing:

The types of investments and wealth building that worked for Boomers won’t work for Millennials. The world has changed. We can’t try to recreate what once was, so we have to look to the future and make our own investment opportunities. With our thirst to invest in crypto and the growth of the above markets, I am hoping this article will provide further inspiration to those who are looking to grow their long-term net worth and consider what possibilities lie in the future to capitalize on our own paths to wealth building. Opportunity has changed, but it has not passed us by, and we should not get stuck looking backward toward what worked for previous generations (like the housing market; if we strive to move away from an economy of consumption, we may usher in a future that sees a correction for property value that in turn makes housing more accessible). Our opportunity is in the future, not the past. And we can use it to not only build wealth, but to create a better world. In time, I believe that a more equitable share of wealth will follow. 

Betting on the Future: 

We must recognize macro-economic factors and humanity’s need for continued growth to know where the next big market is coming from. The above are all clear examples; a great sign is the early adoption of billions of dollars of smart money invested into these markets. These are brightly-lit, flashing neon signs indicating where the future is heading and where, with the right research, you should look to invest (anywhere along the supply chain of future-oriented industries). The industries of the future offer exciting opportunities for building not only your financial future, but our collective future. One of the best things we can do toward this end is invest and allow those investments to grow as long-term holds. In other words, keep looking forward.

Facing times of unprecedented uncertainty and back-to-back defining economic downturns—first the Great Recession and more recently, the pandemic—has understandably locked much of Millennials’ focus on the present. But the future is ours. We just have to invest in it.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.


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