Tennessee Ernie Ford, if you only knew.
The singer and television star, who died over 30 years ago, might be surprised to learn that some young people are quoting lyrics from his 1955 recording of "Sixteen Tons."
The song, which hit No. 1 on the country music and pop charts when Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, tells the grim story of a coal miner who works under brutal conditions, but can't afford to die because he owes his soul to the company store.
'Another Day Older...'
The tune cropped up recently in a Reddit channel as posters reacted to a Deloitte survey released last month that found nearly half of the Gen Z and Millennial respondents were living paycheck to paycheck.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believe that wealth inequality is rising, Deloitte said, and only 28% believe the economic situation in their countries will improve in the coming year.
"I’m not even living paycheck to paycheck, I’m going deeper in debt every paycheck," one commenter said.
"Yup. Same," another person said.
"I moved 16 tonnes, and what'd I get?" another said.
"Another day older and deeper in debt," came the response, which the next line of the song.
"Don't worry virtual assisted suicide will be the new retirement in 30 years," one poster said. "We'll be fine.... Ha ha.. hahaha... Haha..ha."
'Stressing Too Much'
The replies are an attempt to make light of a serious situation, but it is far from funny for a number of young people.
"I have been stressing too much about my finances for last 5 years and then I reached a state where I literally don't care anymore," one commenter said. "People say this is a normal response when you are under water too long. I am just going with the flow. Will see how it goes."
Gen Z--those born between the late 1990s and the early 2010s--make up 32% of the global population, according to Bank of America, followed by Millennials aged 25 to 40 at 22%.
Many of them are struggling as the economy gets pulled down by spiraling inflation, sliding stock prices and the recent cryptocurrency collapse.
So what's going on here?
'A Really Rough Time'
"What we're seeing is that these Gen Z investors are often stunned by how fast and how far their investments have fallen in such a short time," said Jason Dorsey, a Gen Z researcher and author of "Zconomy". "It's important to remember that many in Gen Z have not been through a market like this as investors, so this is very new—especially those who really got into investing during the pandemic."
At the same time, Dorsey said, inflation is going up all around so young people are feeling the pinch of their portfolios shrinking and living costs go up, particularly for items like rent, fuel, and food.
"It's a really tough time as many of them didn't factor in the full risk of investing in assets like cryptocurrency and meme stocks," he said. "In fact, in our 2021 State of Gen Z, we found that 41% of Gen Z trusted cryptocurrency. Trust is a big factor when it comes to making investing and also potentially a reason for not fulling seeing the risk involved."
The silver lining is that of any current investor, Dorsey said, "Gen Z will have the most decades ahead to recover and not only learn from but apply the learning of this current crypto market freeze and stock market decline."
'Hitting Pause'
"Right now we're seeing that Gen Z is not bailing on investing completely, however they are hitting pause and feeling like they're in a wait and see approach," he said. "Given that they often have the least disposable income, especially during these inflationary times, they are often not buying the pullback simply because they don't have the liquidity on the sidelines."
Dorsey added that "we do hear that many are still long on crypto and once high flying meme stocks, but they're not adding to those positions presently."
"The days of Fed and government stimulus that fueled a recent surge in investing interest amongst Millennials and Gen-Zers have quickly come to an end, leaving some investors juxtaposed on their future strategy," said author and investor Jeremiah J. Brown. "What I am witnessing is a seismic shift in market sentiment in our current precarious financial climate."
Brown said that many Gen-Zers are now grappling with whether the time is ripe to unload many stocks, crypto and digital assets, "or hold on for dear life and ride out this downward moving market cycle."
Optimism Amid Fear
"There has been a term floating around for some time now referred to as 'winter', signaling an early anticipation of a possible correction in the markets," he said. "However, many inexperienced, and emotionally intolerant investors are beginning to panic sell as they attempt to increase cash reserves quickly."
Surprisingly enough, Brown said, there is an optimism shadowing the current fear in the market.
"Some are even looking to social media platforms and forums to better gauge with what their peers are doing to protect their portfolio during this period, while others are planning to 'buy the dip' on popular beaten down names," he said.
As far as advice, Brown said "panic selling or buying should not be a strategy in this environment, so take this time to get educated yourselves on the history of fed policy changes and market outcomes over time."
"The more you educate yourself on the economy and what you're investing, the less you'll succumb to fear, and capitulation," he said.
