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i wrote this in a public study on 28-42 year olds I did for the CEO of The Learning Channel in 2006. The bit in bold, is I think, pretty damn prescient:
Decisions about the material world define another unique set of needs, desires, and concerns for people in this stage of life. In their 20s, lifestyle choices dominated decision- making. As they settle into Slambrosia, and become less highly mobile, people start placing more emphasis on “things” and “stuff.” In addition to their functional role in achieving their household goals, material acquisition becomes a vehicle for personal transformation and displaying status.
The most important focal point for material tensions in this life stage is housing. Buying a home is the largest purchase for most American households and will become the reservoir for a major portion of their wealth. Tensions around homeownership are a major motivation in re-scripting and re-sequencing life, and play into the way couples test strategies for moving forward.
New attitudes toward money and financial management of the household accompany this new focus on material acquisition. People entering this life stage today carry record debt loads and must develop plans to reduce it. They place an increased emphasis on savings, and reduce or defer much of the discretionary spending on travel and entertainment that they started in their 20s. Micromanagement of household finances, and the awareness of spending that this entails, becomes a major new area of activity
