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How Different Age Groups View the Trade-Off Between Time and Money

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The Trade-Off Between Time and Money

The Chart of the Week is a weekly Visual Capitalist feature on Fridays.

Every individual person has their own unique set of values when it comes to how they approach their lifestyle and career.

Generally speaking, however, most people have a viewpoint on the inherent trade-off between time and money, as well as whether these precious resources should be used to seek out experiences or buy possessions.

Today’s chart uses data from a global survey of 22,000 internet users in 17 different countries by GfK Global, which gave people the option to choose whether they valued:

  1. Time vs. Money
  2. Experiences vs. Possessions

We’ll first look at the U.S. data with a focus on generational differences, and then we’ll present the international data on how this trade-off between time and money manifests itself between countries.

Generational Differences

Judging by age alone, one might guess that younger generations would prefer to “take the money and run”. After all, millennials are often stereotyped as a cash-strapped generation.

Interestingly, this doesn’t seem to be the case at all, at least according to U.S. data:

Age GroupTime > Money (% agree)Experiences > Possessions (% agree)
15-19 years24%46%
20-29 years38%59%
30-39 years38%57%
40-49 years27%53%
50-59 years26%47%
60+ years20%52%

When it comes to time and money, 38% of both the 20-29 year and 30-39 year ranges prefer to choose time over money. This is a significantly higher portion than those of other age groups. Surprisingly, only 20% of people in the 60+ group clearly had a preference for time over money.

As for experiences and possessions, it was a similar case, with the 20-29 year and 30-39 year groups having the highest preference for experiences. This is not surprising, and it’s a widely known millennial attribute to seek powerful experiences like travel, music festivals, sports, and live events over buying new material possessions such as furniture or a new car.

International Differences

How do people from different countries approach the same survey questions?

Time and money by country

The international chart reveals some interesting differences about the perceived value of time and money.

One very stark one lies between two Asian nations in close proximity. Folks surveyed from China had the highest preference for time over money (41% agreeing), while across the East China Sea, in Japan, the results show the lowest preference for time over money (11% agreeing).

Another interesting cultural difference: countries in Latin America tend to see experiences as far more important than the rest of the globe. Mexico (57%), Argentina (53%), and Brazil (49%) all were well above the global average of 44% for choosing experiences over possessions.

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Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

This graphic illustrates the amount of U.S. currency in circulation globally, by denomination, based on data from the Federal Reserve.

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Visualizing All of the U.S. Currency in Circulation

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Have you ever wondered how much U.S. currency is in circulation?

Every year, the U.S. Federal Reserve submits a print order for U.S. currency to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP will then print billions of notes in various denominations, from $1 bills to $100 bills.

In this graphic, we’ve used the latest Federal Reserve data to visualize the approximate number of bills for each denomination globally, as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Breakdown of U.S. Currency in Circulation

The following table lists all of the data we used to create the visualization above. Note that value figures were rounded for simplicity.

Type of BillNumber of notes
in circulation (billions)
Value ($B)
$114.3$14B
$21.5$3B
$53.5$18B
$102.3$23B
$2011.5$230B
$502.5$125B
$10018.5$1,850B
$500-10,000*0.0004n/a

*$500-10,000 bills are listed as a range, and a total circulation of 0.0004 billion. Not included in graphic.

From these numbers, we can see that $100 bills are the most common bill in circulation, even ahead of $1 bills.

One reason for this is $100 bills have a longer lifespan than smaller denominations, due to people using $100 bills less often for transactions. Some businesses may also decline $100 bills as payment.

Based on 2018 estimates from the Federal Reserve, a $100 bill has a lifespan of over 20 years, which is significantly higher than $1 bills (7 years) and $5 bills (5 years).

If you’re interested in more visualizations on the U.S. dollar, consider this animated chart which shows how the dollar overtook the British pound as the world’s most prominent reserve currency.

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