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Millennials Are Spending More on Coffee Than on Saving for Retirement

This is really bad news for a generation which prides itself on independence.
They let me use an expired free drink coupon at Starbucks this morning, so I tried their new Salted Caramel Mocha...meh

If there's one thing that unites radically individualistic Millennials, it's their love of coffee. Not only are they "very emotional" and snobby about it, but Millennials are currently drinking the world's coffee supply dry.

And if you're thinking there might be a link between this copious coffee consumption and notoriously bad Millennial money-saving habits, survey says… "You're right!"

According to a recent SurveyMonkey report undertaken on behalf of investing app Acorns, almost half of Millennials have spent more money on coffee than on retirement investing.

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READ MORE: Millennials Are Very 'Emotional' About Buying Coffee

Named "Money Matters," the survey, which looked at the spending habits of more than 1,900 Millennials (18 to 35 years old), broke down their results into various categories, including gender. Turns out that young women are particularly frivolous.

"A staggering 44 percent of female Millennials aged 18-35 spent more on their morning fix than they did putting money aside this year," Acorns told MUNCHIES. "What's more is that this number is almost 10 percent higher than the number of Millennial males with the same habit in the same time frame. This evens out to about 41 percent of all users surveyed."

Considering that coffee is one of the cheapest pleasures in life, that's a lot of flat whites and cold brews. That's not good news for a generation which prides itself on independence, because it means that they are just delaying the inevitable saving they will have to do if they ever want to retire. That, by extension could significantly drive up the average retirement age of an entire generation.

This was also corroborated by the research, which found that 41 percent of older Millennials, age 24 to 35, predict that they won't be "financially secure enough to retire until they are older than 65." Yikes.

READ MORE: Millennials Are Spending an Embarrassing Amount on Brunch and Takeaway Pizza

But why would an investment app company be interested in coffee consumption? Well, clearly, Acorns is using coffee as a way to woo potential users. They describe themselves as "a convenient and fun option for someone looking to add small dollar amounts to their investing portfolio on a regular basis."

That means rounding up every purchase to the nearest dollar and putting those few cents into an investment fund. "That 40 cents leftover from each $1.60 americano you grab at the local coffee shop? Have it dropped directly into your Acorns account."

So while Acorns is rightfully ringing the alarm bell on excessive coffee consumption, they, too, are benefiting from the sale of the world's cheapest and most popular psychoactive drug.