An Unbeatable Investment for Millennials

Those in the millennial generation began their adult lives by witnessing one of the greatest financial crashes in history. It would be unsurprising, therefore, if millennials avoided the stock market, much as their grandparents did after the Great Depression.

Morgan Housel, writing in the Wall Street Journal, warns millennials not to overdo it on the risk aversion. He points out that young Americans are avoiding the stock market, and advises them to jump in. He makes the same point that others, such as Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel, have made in the past: Over time, stocks tend to rise, since stocks represent the ability of corporations to capture value. Since humans are always coming up with new ways to create value, unless corporations stop being able to capture that value, stocks are a good bet in the long run. And when you’re young is the time that you should be making that bet, since stocks are risky in the short run, and young people have enough time to be in the market for the long haul.