Americans Are Spending $765 More A Month Than They Did In 2020

As the economy recovers and the market notches new highs, most people are ready to live it up.

Between dining out and taking trips, Americans are now spending an average of $765 more a month compared with last year when much of the country was shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the MassMutual Consumer Spending & Saving Index. 

Young adults, in particular, are determined to make up for lost time. Millennials and Gen Z, who reported feeling the financial impact from the rise in reopenings and social gatherings, said they are shelling out $1,016 more a month, on average, than they did during summer of 2020. MassMutual polled 1,000 U.S. adults from July 21 to 28.

“Spending that extra money is sometimes making a short-term decision,” said Paul LaPiana, a certified financial planner and senior executive at MassMutual in Park City, Utah.

Younger generations “seem to be rushing to the door to get out and start living their lives again instead of making more disciplined decisions, including putting some away, just because they’ve been missing out for the last year and a half,” he observed.

Many Americans plan to spend even more in the weeks ahead as schools and offices reopen.

Check out the full article on CNBC here.