Who Is Spending The Most This Holiday Season?

The biggest budgets this holiday season aren’t parents spending on kids, or millennial tastemakers buying the ‘it items’ this year. It’s also not savvy shoppers who are hunting down the best holiday deals that are spending the most.

Who is spending the most this holiday season? The answer might surprise you! It’s actually people ages 50+ that are spending the most this holiday season.

In a recent article AARP Media Sales sharedthat:

“For the first time in history, consumers over 50 make up the majority – 51 percent – of all of consumer spending.”*

AARP Media Sales shared ideas to help marketers reach this key demographic this holiday season, and their recommendations reflect a shift in not only how we’re spending, but also how we manage our lives.

Being 50 is the new 30 as many people finally reach financial security in their 50s. They’ve paid off student loans, they have established their career, and in many cases they delayed having families until they were older.

We might think 50+ means grandma and grandpa in many cases those lines have blurred with more and more parents of tweens, teens, and young adults in that 50+ range. All I have to do is look around at the holiday showcase at my son’s elementary school to see that reflected.

By waiting until they have financial security they have the means to spend more on their families this holiday season. There are also growing numbers of adults who don’t have children-which gives them the means to give more extravagantly this holiday season.

And for families and singles under 50 it means they’re spending more on necessities, opting out of expensive consumer goods, and working hard on paying down debt and building savings.

What does that mean for you?

If you’re in social media, sell products, or even have a brick and mortar store read AARP Media Sales’s tips on reaching this key demographic. And remember the idea that they are only going to respond to traditional marketing is gone. They’re on Facebook, they’re shopping via mobile, and they’re ALL over those deals.

If you’re in the 50+ age range I’d love to hear if you feel like your holiday budget has grown as you’ve gotten older.

If you’re expecting gifts from your family members with a little more dough to spend-remember they love to give, and while your kids might not need 12 gifts, letting them spoil the kids is what it’s all about this holiday season.

What do you think of this trend? Are you spending more this holiday season?

Kelly

*Data from the U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Disclosure: AARP Media Sales sponsored this post, but emphasized that I was free to express my own opinion.