From the post Too many Americans still fear the future by Noah Smith
Being older makes it harder to adapt to changes in the technical-social equilibrium. If you’re 18 and just starting out at the bottom, big changes are almost pure opportunity; if you’re 50 and you have a mortgage and kids in college and a high salary at a big corporation, you probably want to keep things stable.
The 18 year olds are seeing the 50 year olds getting laid off and thinking about FIRE—Financial Independence, Retire Early.