For General Wesley Clark, there’s a key distinction between the generation he grew up in and today’s youth. The Chairman and Founder of investment bank Enverra shared his insight on a new episode of Yahoo Finance’s Warrior Money podcast, hosted by Patrick Murphy and Dan Kunze.
“My generation didn’t think about money,” Clark told Murphy and Kunze. “It just wasn’t that big a deal. I can’t explain why.”
The retired US Army general and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe of NATO went on to note that his generation had aspirations in business, but they weren’t necessarily rooted in achieving maximum prosperity.
“I went to a very good public high school in Little Rock. There were a lot of people whose parents owned businesses, but they didn’t say, ‘I’m going to go out and make a million dollars on Wall Street.’ That didn’t even enter anybody’s mind,” Clark recalled, explaining that they instead aspired to be teachers, scientists, engineers, college professors, or lawyers. “It wasn’t about money.”
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Clark doesn’t see that trend in today’s generation. “When I talk to young people, the money dimension is a lot higher,” he said.
The Vietnam veteran credits his generation’s upbringing by World War II-era veterans as the reason the value of public service is held in such high regard. “There was a sense of collective teamwork in the country, in which we believed in each other and believed in the country. We talked about the common good,” he says.
“It’s hard when you’re older to really understand what another generation feels,” he notes, “but from the tenor of the culture, it seems to be a little bit different than my generation.”
Hosted by former Congressman Patrick Murphy and veteran investor Dan Kunze, Yahoo Finance’s Warrior Money is a weekly vodcast dedicated to uplifting military veterans transitioning into civilian life. Through insights from fellow veterans and high-ranking government officials, Murphy and Kunze are helping set vets up for success through financial education and inspiration.
This post was written by Nick Riccardo.