GenDigital

They're Recession Proof...For Now

We wrapped up our February immersion that supports our monthly Insights report last week. The main subject covered in the immersion centered on the economy. Without a doubt, there is a lot of trepidation among marketers, especially those in the retail, technology and packaged goods areas. The latest news of economic doom and gloom is practically a daily occurrence in the NY Times or any of the cable news channels. It seems like most analysts and pundits who follow the economy all say the same thing: there are inflationary fears based on high gas prices and higher food prices. Couple that with a messed up housing market and reduced corporate spending and investment and that spells real trouble, in the form of a recession as the most likely outcome. With the Feb immersion, our most basic objective was to get a read from our panelists whether the current economic environment has resulted in a changed in their spending habits and/or any near future travel plans, i.e. spring and summer break. Our takeaway was that any troubles in the broader economy has yet to really trickle down to the market, at least in any sizable numbers. However, that said, just because the majority of the market is yet to be directly effected, it doesn't necessarily mean they are oblivious to the world around them. Among those panelists included in the Feb immersion, 67% said "the current economic environment has not had any material impact on their discretionary spending levels or shopping habits." We attribute the positive results to the market's..excuse the football analogy, "triple threat" like sources for dollars. No doubt you know the first two sources being dollars earned from a part-time job and the dollars received from Mom and Dad, but do you know the third, much less talked about source, and the source we feel is their secret weapon to financial bliss? It's the baby boomer grandparents of Gen Y. The grandparents of today's teens and college kids are increasingly playing a more active role in doling out monies to their prized second generation offspring. In greater numbers, they're taking away a huge financial burden from their own kids by paying for their grand children's higher education. They're stepping up to the plate in big numbers and purchasing big ticket items like cars, computers and other digital electronics devices, not to mention they're sending cold hard cash on a regular basis so their grandkids can continue to gobble up the latest fashions and dine out. It's really a fascinating trend this whole notion of the triple threat, but when all is said and done, perhaps the "greatest generation" will be known for more than just WWII and the Korean War, they might go down as the demographic segment that conquers the recession of '08.

Rising Interest Rates Will Push Students Deeper In The Red

Although most of the talk around rising interest rates revolves around home buyers, one segment of the population that is sure to feel pain will be the millions of students who take on loans for college. Analysts expect the interest rate for students loans to jump as much as 2 percentage points for a typical $20,000 loan taken out by students. Sallie Mae, the student loan giant said that more than $129 billion was distributed last year in federally guaranteed student loans, grants, tax credits and loans to student families. The typical graduating college student will leave school with about $23,000 in outstanding loans that will take about 8 years to pay off. I am glad the job market is robust for these recent grads.

Boosting Financial Literacy Among Teens

I am not sure if this is way to go about it, but the Fed, that is our own central bank has just launched a site that offers teens a closer look at how our central bank works. They might want to consider adding a few bells and whistles to the site, it is pretty blah. Federal Reserve Governor Mark Olson says "the new web page provides younger students with a basic approach to the complexities of the Federal Reserve that is both enjoyable and interesting." Well, that remains to be seen, but I don't expect the site to hammer the government's web servers anytime soon.