by Phyllis Weiss Haserot

1. Avoiding Debt
   • 80% of Gen Zers are considering cost when deciding where to attend college. 69% are concerned about taking on loans.
   • The fastest growing segment with student debt are parents, who have taken out loans for their kids’ education and are struggling between paying for that and their retirement funds.
   • Young Millennials and Gen Zers are shifting their grocery shopping away from supermarkets, the venues typically patronized by Boomers and Gen X, to lower cost options online and other retailers. Total grocery spend by Millennial-aged shoppers is $1,000 less than in 1990 for similarly aged shoppers (adjusted for inflation dollars).
2. Martha Stewart sees a minimalist trend in interior design among millennials. They don’t want to collect and be weighed down with a lot of “stuff.” (So parents are likely to have trouble offloading even their good stuff to their children when they downsize.)
3. Gen Zers and young Millennials don’t favor established celebrities. They prefer to follow YouTubers, considering them more authentic and relatable. So brands are looking for new types of “celebrities” to represent them in new ways to new generations of customers.

Think about how these trends will (or will not) affect you personally or your business.