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Economy
Young people blame climate change for their small 401(k) balances
2019-05-24
[Market Watch] Lori Rodriguez, a 27-year-old communications professional in New York City, is not saving for retirement, and it isn’t necessarily because she can’t afford to ‐ it’s because she doesn’t expect it to matter.

Like many people her age, Rodriguez believes climate change will have catastrophic effects on our planet. Some 88% of millennials ‐ a higher percentage than any other age group ‐ accept that climate change is happening, and 69% say it will impact them in their lifetimes. Engulfed in a constant barrage of depressing news stories, many young people are skeptical about saving for an uncertain future.

"I want to hope for the best and plan for a future that is stable and secure, but, when I look at current events and at the world we are predicting, I do not see how things could not be chaotic in 50 years," Rodriguez says. "The weather systems are already off, and I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to be a little apocalyptic."

Mental-health issues affecting young adults and adolescents in the U.S. have increased significantly in the past decade, a study published in March in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found. The number of individuals between the ages of 18 and 25 reporting symptoms of major depression increased 52% from 2005 to 2017, while older adults did not experience any increase in psychological stress at this time, and some age groups even saw decreases. Study author Jean Twenge says this may be attributed to the increased use of digital media, which has changed modes of interaction enough to impact social lives and communication. Millennials are also said to suffer from "eco-anxiety," according to a 2018 report from the American Psychological Association, with 72% saying their emotional well-being is affected by the inevitability of climate change, compared with just 57% of people over the age of 45.
Posted by:Besoeker

#14  Young people blame climate change for their small 401(k) balances penes.
Posted by: Skidmark   2019-05-24 21:14  

#13  I guess despair is not a plan either.

It's not a plan, it's a lifestyle!

These whiny-ass millennials and their global warming...
Why back in my day, we had overpopulation, famine, pestilence, resource depletion, the coming ice age, and nuclear war. It was Apocalypse coming and going, uphill both ways. We were doomed, DOOMED I tell ya!

Determining why none of this unavoidable awfulness ever happened and why there are more people today living richer, longer, healthier lives is left as an exercise for the Reader.
Posted by: SteveS   2019-05-24 19:23  

#12  Hey, Lori, if you're that gullible, please call me. I can solve ALL of your retirement savings problems by selling you a GREAT bridge in Brooklyn--it will earn you so much money that all your problems will be solved. Don't delay! Call me now!
Posted by: Tom   2019-05-24 15:53  

#11  work
Posted by: chris   2019-05-24 14:37  

#10  hell, why even aork at all then
Posted by: chris   2019-05-24 14:37  

#9  By any chance is Rodriguez in Ocasio Cortez's district where everyone will succumb to climate change in 12 years?
Posted by: JohnQC   2019-05-24 13:53  

#8  One wonders how this compares to the Baby Boomers who grew up under the shadow of nuclear destruction.
Posted by: trailing wife   2019-05-24 13:52  

#7  If she feels that strongly she should be one of Musk's early Mars colonists... Of course his future plans to terraform it include things like meteor impacts and massive nukes but that shouldn't bother her...
Posted by: 3dc   2019-05-24 11:58  

#6  Would it be that great of a loss if New York City was submerged under the Atlantic Ocean?
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2019-05-24 10:46  

#5  I see.

Is this why Britney Spears went mad after ♫ till the world ends ♪ ?
Posted by: Dron66046   2019-05-24 10:21  

#4  One thing for sure, all that money they could be saving in their 401(k), is now available to keep paying my Social Security. Muchas gracias, pendejos.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2019-05-24 10:08  

#3  If hope is not a plan, I guess despair is not a plan either.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2019-05-24 09:15  

#2  Mental-health issues affecting young adults and adolescents in the U.S. have increased significantly in the past decade, a study published in March in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found.

Is that what we're calling rank ignorance nowadays?
Posted by: Raj   2019-05-24 07:29  

#1  Lori Rodriguez, a 27-year-old communications professional in New York City

You can probably guess what I was going to say
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2019-05-24 07:20  

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