Young vs. Old: How consumers are planning to spend in 2024

US Census Bureau data revealed a month-over-month increase of consumer retail in November. However, not every consumer spent the same way, with older generations spending more consistently than younger generations. With more headwinds on the horizon, including student loan payments, will spending patterns between old and young consumers change at all in 2024?

Bank of America Institute Senior Economist David Tinsley joins Yahoo Finance to discuss the data and how generational trends could be expected to shift at all in the new year.

"What we noticed was the older generations were spending firmly throughout November on holiday items. The younger generations were holding back until the holiday weekend, and then they ramped spending," Tinsley outlines. "Looking to next year, I think what I say is the fundamentals remain broadly in good shape right now. The labor market has slowed, but it is certainly not slowing precipitously. The deposits, the savings, and checking account cash that people have on hand to support their spending is coming into the new year in relatively high still, compared to where it was before the pandemic."

Click here to watch the full interview on the Yahoo Finance YouTube page or you can watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live here.

Video Transcript

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And, David, I want to dig in into how different demographics are spending, because we talked about younger consumers here. And in your data here, they're more cautious in their holiday spending than baby boomers. You also have gen X and millennials really honing in on some of these promotional periods. How does that factor into what we can expect into 2024, especially as some of these bills come due?

DAVID TINSLEY: The jury's out, really, on spending over the holiday season for the generation. So what we noticed was that the older generations are spending firmly throughout November on holiday items. The younger generations were holding back until the holiday weekend, and then they ramped spending. And in a survey we ran, we found, actually, that the millennials weren't particularly planning on cutting back their holiday spending, relative to last year, so the jury's out. They may come good if you like and keep spending throughout December.

Looking to next year, I think what I'd say is the fundamentals remain broadly in good shape right now. The labor market, as we discussed, has slowed, but is certainly not slowing precipitously. The deposits, the savings, and checking account, cash that people have on hand to support their spending is coming into the new year relatively high, still, compared to where it was before the pandemic. So across the piece, there's support.