Twenty-somethings and investors: “You have to have a cushion, I don't trust receiving a decent pension”

While straits dominate the domestic economy of young Spaniards, trapped between a rising rental market and an unemployment rate that complicates the emancipation of the family home, some twenty-somethings manage to scrape savings through occasional jobs and parental pay to get started in the world of the investment. Those consulted, part of a minority of their generation, mainly buy stocks, although they started in the risky world of cryptocurrencies. The journey usually has a common origin: social networks like X and platforms like YouTube where they get investment ideas. Their objectives when they press the buy button are varied: the financial peace of mind of complementing their future salary with other passive income, preparing the ground to later jump into real estate, or even, in the much longer term, the construction of an alternative to pensions. whose sustainability they consider uncertain.

In its favor, especially time, it plays a great ally so that returns accumulate, overcoming volatility and the ups and downs of the short term. Against them, the poor savings capacity typical of age, exacerbated by high inflation and prohibitive housing prices, as well as the risk that commissions will devour a high proportion of the investment if they do not choose the correct bank or broker. from which to carry out operations.

“I like to save since I was little”

Juan Claramunda from A Coruña, a student in his final year of Teaching, lives at his parents' house. He already has between 6,000 and 10,000 euros invested in shares following the strategy value popularized by Benjamin Graham first and Warren Buffett later. The theory, on paper, is simple: look for companies that are undervalued by the market, and, therefore, with high potential for revaluation. Practice is not so much: a bad economic cycle can make investors forget the fundamentals of a company for years, so patience is required, and nothing guarantees that the shares of the chosen company are truly below their price. It all depends on the quality of the pre-acquisition analysis.

By video call, Claramunda, 21, gives a brief summary of her arrival in the world of investment. “Since I was little I liked saving money, and when I was 19 I started reading books, including Rich father poor father [un best seller de las finanzas personales, obra de Robert Kiyosaki]. I realized that money in the bank loses purchasing power, so I looked for ways to move it. The Stock Exchange is a fabulous place for that.”

He declares himself a great follower of José Luis Cárpatos' market analysis. “I have breakfast, lunch and dinner with his videos,” he says. And like other supporters of the so in vogue financial nudism that permeates the networks, Claramunda shares in “Many people see themselves reflected in me. “They like to see what someone who is starting out like them is doing.”

Where do you get the money from? A part comes from what his family gives him and the rest from coaching a soccer team. He doesn't waste, but he doesn't practice extreme austerity either. “More than financial freedom, I want financial peace of mind. I don't think I'll stop working, maybe retire sooner,” she says. He doubts the pension system. “You have to have a cushion for when the time comes, I don't trust in collecting a decent pension.”

“We don't have that much to lose”

The same age is Carlos Jiménez from Cáceres, who this year will finish a degree in direction and management of digital companies from the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid. In 2020, in the midst of the cryptocurrency boom, he tried buying some of them. He started well, but ended badly. They were very small amounts, but something clicked, and he began investing with Pedro, Tao and Víctor, three classmates from his university residence. “I decided to start educating myself in this world, watching videos like those on the Healthy Pockets or The Art of Investing channels, reading books like One step ahead of Wall Streettake courses and follow people on Twitter.”

Son of a bank director and a civil servant, the rent for his apartment is paid by his parents. His small investments, which total about 2,000 euros, have been financed by working in the summer at Domino's and McDonald's, and with some of the family pay. “Being young, we don't have as much to lose as an adult with a wife and children, so we can only make mistakes and learn like sponges. The most complicated thing is having enough money to invest, since either you work while studying, or it will be much more difficult for you.”

It currently holds the cryptocurrencies bitcoin and ethereum, and some dividend stocks. “I think there is a lack of financial education in Spain and among young people. If they earn 1,000 euros a month in some job, they do not dedicate a single euro to investing,” she says. “I invest to have financial freedom in the future. Work on what I like and have an extra income of 2,000 or 3,000 euros a month passively from real estate or shares,” she adds.

“Attitude influences”

In Archidona, a town in Malaga with just over 8,000 inhabitants near the provinces of Córdoba and Granada, young Samuel Alba, 22, lives in his parents' house. Finance and Accounting student, during the pandemic lockdowns he began to listen podcasts like that of Jordi Wild and Juan Ramón Rallo, and the @InversorUniversitario account was opened on Twitter. “In networks I only saw people who invested a lot of capital, and I felt a little removed from all that, so I wanted to focus my account on how a person with little income and many expenses looks for a way to invest something,” he explains.

After a first experience with cryptocurrencies, he opted for the stock market, specifically index funds: around 80% of his 1,100 euros are in the MSCI Global index and the rest in Asia. His income is varied. He gives private accounting classes to higher education students and earns about 150 or 200 euros a mon
th, of which he invests the majority. He has also worked in the summer at Mercadona, has edited videos, and has done tax consulting practices to pay for his studies and his maintenance, also helped by scholarships.

His case is an example that there are not always wealthy parents behind it. Born in a working class environment where there is not much left over, his family fears that he will lose money that he may need in the markets, but he assures that he does not risk anything that he will need for the fundamental thing: his studies, and he advocates for the culture of effort to have more sources of income. “I do not believe in meritocracy 100%, it is clear that those who have money have access to better jobs by paying for better careers, but attitude influences. I give private classes, edit video and get my degree. Three things. “Most young people my age only do one.”

Your intention, when you can save more, is to change your investment method to real estate or dividends. He is convinced that there will still be pensions when he reaches the age to collect them, but not that they can provide the same well-being as now. “The problem is the quantity we have. If they give you one for 600 euros and you want to live with it, that's up to you. “I prefer to have my money invested and when the time comes, take it out little by little.”

“I started after watching 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

The last operation of Alejandro Cirilo, a 20-year-old man from Madrid who lives in Granada, was a sale of shares in the Italian Sea Group company, dedicated to the construction of luxury yachts. He says he won 2,000 euros. “A spectacular start to the year,” he says into the phone. His story has a lot in common with that of other young investors. He starts in the cryptocurrency fever, evolves towards the stock market to reduce risks and uses temporary jobs to save.

The idea of ​​investing, however, did not cross his mind until a friend told him about the film. The wolf of Wall Street. He saw her, he liked her, and he set out to imitate her by making money in the markets. After earning something with cryptocurrencies, he recognizes that his first steps in the Stock Market were a disaster, so he chose to train and obtained the title of EFPA financial advisor, certifying himself at the Institute of Stock Market Studies (IEB). Now, he works in a clothing chain, shares an apartment with his partner paying the rent out of his pocket, and claims to have between 15,000 and 25,000 euros invested – he prefers not to give the exact figure – after two years of high returns: 41% in 2022 and 35% in 2023. “Among young people, there is a lack of understanding of what inflation is. In the future you will want to buy a house and you will not be able to do so if you do not set financial goals,” he emphasizes.

In his environment, as is usual, the reaction when he talks about investment is surprise and a certain incomprehension. “My family thinks my investments are riskier than they really are,” she says. She says she enjoys analyzing companies and wants to make it her job by creating a training program for those interested in learning how to invest. Is it essential to have a mattress to begin with? “It is important to work to be able to have income and invest, but it is also important to create the habit. If you start with 50 euros, even if you are not going to generate almost anything, you are creating a habit that as soon as you start earning more will give you profitability,” she defends.

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