Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy
Enamoured by gamified FinTech platforms and the rise of investment cultures on social media, young people are turning to financial markets to take control over their future in a present shaped by instability and crisis. Recently, the story of young investors has been dominated by sensationalist acco...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
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| Series: | Finance and Society |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059599924000207/type/journal_article |
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| author | Monique de Jong McKenzie |
| author_facet | Monique de Jong McKenzie |
| author_sort | Monique de Jong McKenzie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Enamoured by gamified FinTech platforms and the rise of investment cultures on social media, young people are turning to financial markets to take control over their future in a present shaped by instability and crisis. Recently, the story of young investors has been dominated by sensationalist accounts of speculative investing (i.e., GameStop). But alongside these speculative traders exists the young passive investor, who steadily invests in safe, diverse assets to grow their wealth over their lifetime. The figure of the passive young investor points to a larger social phenomenon of a maturing asset economy where major assets such as property are out of reach, but financial assets have emerged to allow young people to live an assetised life. To understand why young investors are turning to financial markets as an instrument of wealth accumulation, I argue that these practices emerge as a response to young people’s affective state of precariousness. This precariousness emerges from their material and discursive context that includes a retreating welfare state, wage stagnation, limited employment pathways, and individualised risk management. This affective atmosphere of precariousness pushes young people to seek stability and security wherever they can, and for young investors, this is found in financial assets. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-20fa1f96e3fb447eaa1b1d3a35d7fd52 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2059-5999 |
| language | English |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Finance and Society |
| spelling | doaj-art-20fa1f96e3fb447eaa1b1d3a35d7fd522025-01-27T10:05:23ZengCambridge University PressFinance and Society2059-599911510.1017/fas.2024.20Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economyMonique de Jong McKenzie0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9659-6635School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, AustraliaEnamoured by gamified FinTech platforms and the rise of investment cultures on social media, young people are turning to financial markets to take control over their future in a present shaped by instability and crisis. Recently, the story of young investors has been dominated by sensationalist accounts of speculative investing (i.e., GameStop). But alongside these speculative traders exists the young passive investor, who steadily invests in safe, diverse assets to grow their wealth over their lifetime. The figure of the passive young investor points to a larger social phenomenon of a maturing asset economy where major assets such as property are out of reach, but financial assets have emerged to allow young people to live an assetised life. To understand why young investors are turning to financial markets as an instrument of wealth accumulation, I argue that these practices emerge as a response to young people’s affective state of precariousness. This precariousness emerges from their material and discursive context that includes a retreating welfare state, wage stagnation, limited employment pathways, and individualised risk management. This affective atmosphere of precariousness pushes young people to seek stability and security wherever they can, and for young investors, this is found in financial assets.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059599924000207/type/journal_articleaffectasset economyinvesting culturesprecariousnessyoung investors |
| spellingShingle | Monique de Jong McKenzie Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy Finance and Society affect asset economy investing cultures precariousness young investors |
| title | Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy |
| title_full | Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy |
| title_fullStr | Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy |
| title_short | Young investors, precariousness, and the maturing asset economy |
| title_sort | young investors precariousness and the maturing asset economy |
| topic | affect asset economy investing cultures precariousness young investors |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2059599924000207/type/journal_article |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT moniquedejongmckenzie younginvestorsprecariousnessandthematuringasseteconomy |