The financial management phenomenon in 2024: Seek stability first and then profits. Young people are re-studying "Mathematical Finance".
At the beginning of the year, a TV series "Blossoms" brought the audience back to the glory of the stock market in the 1980s. This highly popular drama also set the tone for financial management in 2024. In this year, the golden age that is missed seems to have a shadow of recurrence: on one side is the continuously rising gold price, and on the other side is the recovering stock market in early October, which has led a group of young new investors to rush into the market...
At the end of the year, Xiaohongshu Finance and Ant Fortune jointly launched the "2024 Top Ten Financial Management Trends for Young People", summarizing the annual financial management phenomena of young people.
In terms of their attitude towards wealth, young people have always been a bit conflicted. On one side, the recovering stock market has attracted a group of post-90s and post-00s new investors, and everyone is a "mental Warren Buffett"; but in essence, Generation Z is still a conservative group that seeks stability. They do not seek great wealth, but only a small profit. They prefer stable financial management such as Yu'E Bao and bond funds.
They joke about themselves that after entering the society, they are re-taking "Mathematics, Finance, and Consumption" - children make choices, but adults choose to save, manage finances, and spend money.
01. Extreme Saving, "Partial Retirement"
In 2023, "Deposit Special Forces" became popular. In 2024, "Living on Interest" became popular again. Young people no longer act like ascetics, but focus on extreme saving, being meticulous and calculating in practice. They use interest and earnings to cover even a small part of their living costs to achieve the downgraded happiness of "partial retirement".
Sanmu, who is 27 years old, has always been a strong saver. "Saving money is a compulsory thought and a goal for me." When her income was 8,000 yuan, she set a goal to save 5,000 yuan per month. When her income exceeded 10,000 yuan, the rule became to save at least 10,000 yuan per month.
Her efforts have brought about the principal and also reduced the burden for her future life. After she saved 500,000 yuan, she was able to try "Living on Interest". The 500,000 yuan deposit in Yu'E Bao generates an interest of about 27 yuan per day. Every morning, she checks how much interest she has earned. The 27 yuan can barely cover the cost of lunch or dinner for one day, which gives her a kind of "zero-cost" consumption happiness.
Another person, Xianyu, who is 33 years old, already has more than 1 million yuan in savings. Most of her savings are in time deposits in the bank, and 60,000 yuan is in Yu'E Bao for daily expenses, which is safe and generates interest. Now, Xianyu has resigned from her job and returned to her rural hometown. She found that the cost of living in the countryside is low, and she can realize the dream of the "FIRE Group" by relying on interest to temporarily rest and not have to work so hard.
On social media, the discussion about "Can You Lie Flat by Living on Interest" has never stopped. This year on Xiaohongshu, netizens have been posting their daily challenges of "Living on Interest", and the relevant notes have received more than 200 million views. This is the ultimate ideal of many young people: save enough money and then cover daily expenses through stable financial management earnings such as Yu'E Bao and bond funds.
No matter how much the interest is, being able to add an egg every day is also happiness, not to mention looking at the increasing numbers in the balance - this makes young people feel that every tomorrow is promising. How can this not be considered "partial retirement"?
Of course, to live on interest, one must first save enough principal. The first step in saving money is to start keeping accounts. At the beginning of the new year, young people often have a high enthusiasm for saving money. Especially in March, the number of times netizens searched for "saving money" on Xiaohongshu reached its peak. After all, the motivation for working the whole year is to save and make money. Data shows that 20 million post-00s Yu'E Bao users have set up regular transfers. Watching the account numbers getting larger and larger, their savings are also increasing.
Save what should be saved, sell what should be sold, and focus on having cash as the king. Throughout the year, 65 million people searched for idle items on Xiaohongshu, sold idle items, and bought other people's idle items at low prices. Everyone set up an online stall on Xiaohongshu, creating a "Cyber Flea Market". Let the items flow and keep the money. Who says young people don't know how to live? Young people are really good at it!
02. Financial "Conservative" Adventurers
In terms of financial management, compared to the "seeking stability as the mainstream" in 2023, young people in 2024 seem to be a bit more "aggressive", but only a little bit.
Post-00s are competing to be adventurers, exploring the hinterland of the stock market to open up new territories; doing side hustles to earn extra income, and finding various ways to make money... But even if taking risks, they also need to be cautious. Taking a small step forward also needs to be a stable one. This generation of young people choose to "make small profits quietly".
As long as the number is red, they are happy, even if it is 1 yuan or 2 yuan.
Lancy's habit after opening her eyes every morning is to open the financial management interface of the Alipay APP to check the fluctuations of the bond fund she purchased. When it goes up, the opening screen will give her a red explosion, and when she sees the "+", she is happy. There are still few times when it is green. After all, she buys a bond fund with a lower risk.
Just graduated and working for half a year, Lancy is still a novice in the field of financial management. Therefore, she allocates a small amount of funds, 15,000 yuan in bond funds - as a new fund investor, Lancy does not dare to play too thrillingly, and she has just completed the transition from Yu'E Bao to a low-risk bond fund. She wants to make financial management a "sure-win" game.
Image Source: IC PHOTO
This reflects the financial management mentality of many young people in 2024 - just seeking a small profit. If they can earn a little, they will show it. This year, there are 130,000 notes on Xiaohongshu showing their achievements in making money through financial management. Among the Ant Fortune bond fund holding users, 84% have positive returns. Financial management should not be ups and downs. Making small profits quietly, how can this not be considered smart?
At the end of September, with a shock in the stock market, Xiaolin, who is a post-95s, finally made up his mind to invest in stocks.
According to the statistics of the Shanghai Stock Exchange official website, the number of new A-share accounts opened in the Shanghai Stock Exchange in October 2024 reached 6.85 million, which is about 4.5 times the average number of new accounts opened in the first 9 months. Although he has no stock market experience, following this wave of stock investment, Xiaolin's confidence has also increased for no reason. In October, he did earn more than 1,000 yuan. "I feel like I am a stock god, and everything is under my control." Then he continued to buy at low prices and invested about 16,000 yuan in the stock market. Although he has not lost money or made much money so far, he still does not regret it. At least he is in the game.
Image Source: IC PHOTO
The stock market is booming, and more young people are mainly testing the waters and putting stability first. This year, for the first time, the scale of passive index funds exceeded that of active equity funds and became the top choice in the market. Many young people began to pay attention to index funds that follow the market for the first time. Although this has long been a common and mature investment method overseas. According to the data of the Ant Fortune platform, during the hot market in late September, 80% of the new funds in equity funds were invested in index funds.
During this period, old and new fund investors also met for the first time in the Ant Wealth Management Community. The word "Don't be impulsive" appeared with a frequency increase of 109% compared to the previous month. Axin, who is a post-95s, is already a semi-experienced investor. He started buying funds in 2019, made more than 20,000 yuan and then entered the stock market. After making some money, he fully invested in stocks. Even though he is experienced, Axin's strategy has also been adjusted this year, turning to stable fixed investment instead of buying high and selling low or doing ultra-short-term trading. "After all, the friends around me who do ultra-short-term trading have all lost money."
03. Spending for "Zero Guilt"
Young people are not afraid to spend money, but on the basis of saving and making money, they are seeking an "unburdened, zero-guilt" enjoyment. Just like how milk tea merchants are labeling their desserts as "Zero Sugar, Zero Fat, and Light", consumption also needs to be spent thriftily and worthily. Every penny must be exchanged for the deserved sense of experience and satisfaction to offset the guilt of spending beyond the budget and not feel bad about the money spent.
In 2024, "enjoyment" is not a derogatory term, but it must be qualified with "cost-effective and worthy".
In the 21st century, who is still comparing luxury goods with each other - nowadays, young people are comparing who lives a more cost-effective life. Today, if the wool is薅ed well, the link is quickly shared in the family and friends group to send out welfare! For the same thing, who buys it more worthily? Who is more frugal? The person who can save the most money is the king. Just as the saying goes, reverse comparison, "The Saver is the King".
Although they are a bit stingy, young people are not ambiguous about food. It is not known whether the Engel's coefficient is high - but having a good meal is definitely a mental massage. After all, they will never treat their mouths badly.
