What’s your vice? That might depend on your generation
What’s your vice? That might depend on your generation
Chances are really good you’ve spent money on alcohol, or drugs, or gambling.
That’s not just a good guess. A new Bankrate study said 84% of Americans spend money on at least one of the six most common “vices.” That includes alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, sports betting, casino games and lottery tickets.
And it turns out that how old you are plays a major factor in which vices you’re indulging.
Alcohol is the top choice for every generation. But it’s most popular among older generations and people with a higher income.
Senior Research Fellow Christine McDaniel at George Mason University’s Mercatus Center said those two stats are related.
“There’s a bit of an income effect there,” said McDaniel. “Older people tend to be more financially stable, but also just cultural, you know, they just prefer to relax with a glass of wine or cocktail.”
Sports betting is not nearly as universal. It’s particularly big with people under 30 — half of Gen Zers are spending on online sports betting. That’s more than double the percentage of Gen Xers, and more than triple the Boomers.
“There’s a lot of evidence that Gen Zers are bigger risk takers with their money,” said Ted Rossman, a senior industry analyst with Bankrate. He said older generations are likely more debt-averse because they lived through a Great Recession.
“Gen Zers, on the other hand, came of age at a time when stimulus money was abundant,” said Rossman. “You know, there were a lot of people that were using their stimulus money to gamble on crypto or sports betting or meme stocks.”
Rossman said that vice spending can become a problem when people go into debt to pay for it, which out of all the vices Bankrate studied, is most common for the sports betters.
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