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Old 12-11-2018, 04:03 PM   #1
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Why Millennials are not Buying Boats

Good Article

https://www.boatus.com/magazine/2017...PK4cPnaRWn6Ubc
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Old 12-11-2018, 04:22 PM   #2
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Wifey B: Interesting as it starts out attempting to prove something based on numbers but realizes it's not as it appears.

Young people are not as hung up on "owning." Many choose to rent homes, lease cars and rent boats when needed. Honestly, for the average young person who has little time in a year to use a boat, owning doesn't make sense. Chartering and renting do or just going with others.

Watched a tv show last night called "Unanchored." It focuses on "Bucketlust." Young people who have chosen rather than buy things to have fun when they can and to travel. They've decided to enjoy life, sometimes to the extreme. Decided to focus on fun and pleasure. They charter all the available sailboats somewhere and have an extreme party.

Now, I know young people who save as we did. They don't trust things to be good and want to feel protected. They're not candidates for boat ownership either, more like the rental clubs. They evaluate the cost of ownership vs. number of days used and figure out owning is outrageously expensive.

I don't think the interest in boating is down.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:21 PM   #3
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Most millennials are still living at home and use their parent's boat.


And cell plan and car and insurance and internet and cable and house.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:24 PM   #4
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Most millennials are still living at home and use their parent's boat.


And cell plan and car and insurance and internet and cable and house.
You got any actual facts to back that up? My kids are millenials and neither they or anyone they know fall into that classification. Same with the kids of all our friends of our generation.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:27 PM   #5
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Most millennials are still living at home and use their parent's boat.


And cell plan and car and insurance and internet and cable and house.
Wifey B: NOT!

The Millennials I know are hard working and on their own for the most part.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:31 PM   #6
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Many (most) larger (expensive) boats I've surveyed in the last five years have been millenial first time buyers with an inheritance.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:45 PM   #7
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Am millenial. Own house. Have owned boats. Have been financially independent since graduating college, which I also paid for/am still paying for.
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Old 12-11-2018, 05:47 PM   #8
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I'm a Gen-Xer and my children are Millennials. What's interesting about this article is this statement rang true to me about my children:

"In the 1970s and '80s, if you wanted to go boating, you had to buy a boat," says Ellis. "Generally, the mindset of people in that generation was to own things. This seems almost silly to a millennial. Why would you buy a ski house, when all you have to do is Airbnb it! Same with boats."

While this statement rang true to me about myself:

"We're seeing a culture shift. There seems to be a nexus between sharing economy, tiny homes, hipsters, location-independent income, minimalism. Some people on my website are expressing this new break from the standard American dream through sailing and cruising, especially in older or shared boats, instead of fancy cars or houses."

But I also believe in owning things - even if the thing is a really old boat. Owning a house is making less and less sense to me as we transition from full time parents focused on family and careers to two people who are still young and capable enough to chase adventures who value time and experiences over real estate and titles.

Maybe I'm a weird morph of Gen-X and Millenial, an X-Millenial perhaps?
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Old 12-11-2018, 06:01 PM   #9
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Maybe I'm a weird morph of Gen-X and Millenial, an X-Millenial perhaps?
Wifey B: Gen-X with open mind and listening to Millenials.
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Old 12-11-2018, 06:33 PM   #10
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Very few own Ferraris too. It took well into my 40's to even remotely get a handle on my life to realize boating (and I mean yachting) was even a thing. Be it money, responsibility, life management, free time management, desire for something very few experience... some of these take half a lifetime to learn to deal with to the point where a massive change of lifestyle that boating requires, could be even considered. When I was the age of a millennial, I never would have even considered yachting an option. Our family had a small ski boat... that was the extent of my exposure to it. And my dad never left any expectation for larger boating. And how many young boaters have you ever seen?
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Old 12-11-2018, 06:52 PM   #11
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I agree with Tom B it was not until I was in my 40's when I felt comfortable financially and with family commitments to own a boat. once we paid off the house and had the kids through school we looked at the next adventure and bought our 34. Boating is expensive and trawler life more so, many young people are seeing a higher percentage of their income eaten up by housing and school loans. Even if you buy a inexpensive boat, Marina fees, maintenance and other expenses eat up lots of discretionary income.
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Old 12-11-2018, 07:08 PM   #12
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As a Millenial (hate the word millenial as its usually used in a negative tone) and having been boating since I was about 10, It has always been my passion.

The financial climate has changed dramatically since 2008. Having bought multiple boats in gradually larger sizes has been a trip. It has been horrible and great at the same time.

I would like to think we are well off financially. Have a high paying job in the financial services industry and can pretty much afford all of our toys in cash. Pretty responsible with savings and expenses and have a single digit debt to income ratio. Credit scores in the 800's.

I am constantly met with "no comparable credit history" when we are shopping for loans for our boats. While we can afford in cash, our money is working much harder for us in investments and other financial vehicles. We live in a Tiny House which we built and paid for outright. This gives us the freedom to travel and buy toys without a massive mortgage or rent payment.

This however makes things very difficult with the banks. They don't like that you haven't had a mortgage. Even though your combined available credit on credit cards could buy "the toy" on top of the cash in the bank.

OK, that's enough ranting for now. But point is, even for those ambitious millennials out there that want to break into boating, and have the means, it is very very difficult to do these days when even a simple center console costs bukku bucks. Ofcourse used boats are an option, but a lot of people these days are looking for shiny new turn key. The appeal of an older boat is probably less desirable given that it will require upgrades, work, etc.
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Old 12-11-2018, 07:09 PM   #13
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Most millennials are still living at home and use their parent's boat.


And cell plan and car and insurance and internet and cable and house.


I have 2 millennial daughters one is very productive and hardworking the other not as much. I also employ some millennials and I have some really good ones. I don’t think they are a bad generation at all. Probably the same percentage of go getters as the last 2 generations.
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Old 12-11-2018, 07:13 PM   #14
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My wife and I have also observed that younger-age boaters just aren't there in the numbers you would expect. The age group that we see predominantly between Puget Sound and Alaska is older - not all retired but getting close and aspiring to it. Part of it may be related to never fully bouncing back from the recession of 10 years ago. But the economy in Seattle and Puget Sound area has roared back, which should mean lots of interest and the means to buy bigger boats and use them. But that's not happening, at least in demographically significant numbers. Shifting tastes and preferences? Or not enough time to own a bigger boat and use it. Our nephews and nieces who are part of the Microsoft / Amazon / tech culture in Seattle talk about the high salaries being offset by working nights and weekends, and pretty much always being on call. No time for a boat's distraction, or learning how to run and maintain one. Just a theory....my $.02.
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Old 12-11-2018, 07:20 PM   #15
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On the Great Lakes plenty of young people boating. I think it’s more likely that people in Seattle, LA, SFO, NYC, etc. are boating less as they are working crazy hours. And as this is where the publications are written, we have the hand wringing about a lack of young boaters.
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Old 12-11-2018, 07:25 PM   #16
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good point. Btw love the name SeaMoose
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Old 12-11-2018, 08:31 PM   #17
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You can really see some of this if you look at yacht clubs. Some are failing because they have not figured out how to attract the younger crowd. For others the demographic is changing within the club. Most of us in the baby boomer have bigger boats and either covered slips or boat houses. The younger crowd have wake or ski boats or pontoon party boats. I saw this with the Clover Island Yacht Club in Kennwick WA. It was amazing to see. Fun to watch.
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Old 12-11-2018, 08:36 PM   #18
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We have two millennial children - one of each. Both well educated (Amherst, Duke, Ole Miss), married, hard working with good jobs - could not be more proud. Same for all of their friends (except for the one that is still waiting on a miracle ). And both of ours grew up when we had a Catalina 25 sailboat on the large local lake - both loved to sail and be on boats. Fully expect them both one day to be back on boats - including ours
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Old 12-11-2018, 08:55 PM   #19
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Why Millennials are not Buying Boats

I agree with the comment about the trend away from owning, and younger people using other methods of gaining use of items. Look at Uber, airBNB etc.
There hasn’t been a big move in the boating industry in this area yet but I for one, would like to see it happen.
Look at all the boats sitting idle in marinas. What a waste of tied up capital. I’d love to see these unloved and neglected boats out on the water being enjoyed by another generation.
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Old 12-11-2018, 09:59 PM   #20
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The percentage of millennials that make wages that support having a boat is less than babyboomers at the same time in their lives. There were many union trades that are gone now. Unions caused non-union competitors to pay near union wages to keep their employees from leaving for a union job. In addition there were more small businesses doing better during my time than there are now. Houses cost a lot more now, taxes are higher. Less money is available to most millennials.
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