>The authors found that a given age cohort’s attitudes changed over time — more often later in life — and that “the direction of change is most often toward increased tolerance rather than increased conservatism.”

I'm also an older millennial (33 born in 1985) and I feel like I share almost nothing in common with the younger millennials but unfortunately I've accepted that is the group I'm in.

I had the opposite experience as you though. I started off really conservative like my parents and moved further left as I aged and experience a more diverse group of people.

Though I consider myself firmly a Libertarian I am left of the center on almost all social issues. And a lot of the people I know are the same. Left on social issues but right on economic issues.

I can't see myself ever going so far left as to be in socialist territory though.

Edit: fixed a minor typo.

I don't think there's an obvious generalization to make. My 5c would be that (as another commented pointed out) in general people who start off as ideologists (in whatever direction) will lean more towards pragmatism later in life, while others will become exposed to ideas and environments that will radicalize them.

Not my quote but the smartest thing the U.S. government ever did was take out your taxes with each paycheck.

Still socially liberal (I mean who in 2018 actually isn't?) but definitely far more financially conservative than I used to be.

Is this sarcasm? I'm not trying to be curt, but obviously lots of people are not socially liberal.

Here's the 2016 results where older voters (65+) preferred Trump to Clinton. I also grew up in one of the biggest retirement communities in Florida and while anecdotal, many of them would tell me they were Democrats when they were younger and shifted right as they got older.

I would say, that as you get wealthier, you tend to want to protect that wealth. And older folks are wealthier than younger folks. That's my biggest guess.