Millennial, the term coined for 21^st-century’s young adults, is often associated with a generation that makes all the unconventional choices and as a result, has changed the way markets function.

While the generation before millennials, the baby boomers, believed in owning houses, millennials are more attracted towards travel, luxury cars, apparels and anything that offers them a novel experience.

Unlike their predecessors, millennials are apparently not too fond of gambling, and that is making many heads spin! However, there is one aspect in which they’re quite like their elders – love for legacy. Regardless of their unique lifestyles, millennials seem to be keen on leaving a legacy that’s looked up to by their younger lot. Whether they do it based on their investment choices or making unconventional financial decisions, millennials have definitely found innovative ways of leaving their mark in the world. Let’s take a closer look at some areas where their lifestyle decisions are completely different from the generation before them.

Investments

Being the generation that came into workforce post the recession, majority of the millennials are risk averse. In fact, the great recession split this generation into two groups with very different financial habits. As per a Capital One study, 93% of millennials are wary of investments. It’s only the rich ones who invest on a regular basis. The wealthy millennials on the other hand are more open to putting their money into hedge funds and equity, and embrace investments more openly.

Shopping

This used to be a fairly tedious job at one point of time, involving visits to multiple outlets. For millennials, shopping has evolved to be a completely different experience than baby boomers. Rather than heading out to the mall, millennials simply open e-commerce websites and applications on their phones/laptops and shop for whichever brand they want, at best prices. Although many are still struggling to completely get around this major shift of retail industry to the online world, it’s a reality that is going to take all kinds of shapes in the future.

Travel

Whether it’s about daily commute or long distance travel, how people travel has changed drastically over the past few years. While taking flights used to be a luxury once, it’s only one of the choices today. This generation is also not too fond of the public transport, and prefers cabs and private cars instead. On the whole, there is greater emphasis on luxury and comfort today.

Debt

Debt also looks quite different in case of millennials. It’s worth noting that college tuition has increased by more than double since the 80s and the student loans are at an all-time high. In fact, the national student loan debt stands at a total of $ 1.5 trillion today. Although a large majority of millennials have student loan debt, the older and wealthy ones have less of it. An average worker’s debt is in the form of student loan, constituting 20% of his/her total debt and averaging around $16,000. The wealthy millennials on the other hand have $2000 less student loan debt compared to their peers.