Want to get a glimpse of what young people are facing? “The Millennial Next Door Revealed: How to Be Financially Successful in Your 20s,” a free e-book from MoneyTips.com, is available starting today. (Click on the link to get your free copy.)
Author Katie Holmes notes that millennials (those born between 1981 and 1994) face a faltering economy and high student debt, along with a lot of withering generalizations (entitled, narcissistic, lazy). Mostly I agree with her; in fact, I believe that millennials have gotten a raw deal, economically speaking.
Although I have an issue with the ways its conclusions were drawn (more on that in a minute), I think “The Millennial Next Door” offers some valuable info on the mindsets of this cohort. And I’d say that even if I weren’t one of a couple of dozen personal finance writers contributing money tips to the work.
For starters, what looks like entitlement to an old fogey like me is simply a fact of life for millennials. They grew up constantly connected so it’s no wonder they look for the same flexibility in the workplace. They’re also more likely to think outside the 9-to-5 box; if they can get the work done on time, why do they have to be at the desk during specific hours?
That same connectivity might mean they’re working more than 40 hours. From personal experience I can say that publicists and other writers often answer my query e-mails within minutes, even if I don’t send them until 8 p.m. or during the weekend. Some young people are almost always available.
Millennials and money
The part that made me the happiest? The fact that 96 percent report having made saving a priority. Very encouraging.
Nearly half (47 percent) say that saving enough for retirement keeps them up at night sometimes. That’s also encouraging – not the insomnia, but the realization that they have to take charge of their own futures.
Almost nine out of 10 have set specific financial goals and are on track to meet those goals. I am heartened that they’re not sitting around wondering if the Life Direction Fairy will show up to take away all the sadz.
Tellingly, this group owns its goofs. There were no whines of “but everybody said it was OK to take out loans” or “I needed a great car to make the right impression at my new job.”
Instead, the millennials report their missteps honestly, with admissions like “spending too much money while ‘in the moment’,” “should have spent less on vacations and things I wanted” and “rushing into buying a home.”
(Quick aside to “paying $800 to go on vacation to meet someone I met on the Internet” – hope that was an object lesson.)
Not enough voices
“Many (millennials) have established a positive relationship with money, are enjoying their lifestyles, and don’t share the ‘woe-is-me’ mantra other generations seem intent on saddling millennials with,” Holmes writes.
However, I question whether she can definitively say what “many” millennials have (or have not) done. Just 588 people took the survey (conducted online from Nov. 14 to Dec. 1, 2014) – and data from only 291 respondents were included in the book.
According to Holmes, MoneyTips.com did this for two reasons:
- The cost of living “varies dramatically by geographic location and lifestyle choices,” and
- Millennials take “a much broader view of what defines success.”
Both those things are true. However, 291 people isn’t so much a “survey” as it is a decent-sized focus group. While I believe the insights are interesting, I don’t believe they can be applied to an entire generation.
That said: I do believe that this e-book is worth your time. Download it for free and give it a read. It might help you understand your kids, nieces, nephews, grandkids or co-workers a little better.
Share it with your teens, too: Advice coming from the group just ahead of you might mean more than any tips offered by parents or, worse, by talking-head personal finance writers.
We have two millennials living under our roof, going to college and working 20-30+ hours per week each in order to avoid student loans. DS1 will graduate with an MBA in June. He’s working even harder to find a professional post-graduation job this time since 9 months of job search after his BA netted zilch. After seeing his brother’s struggles, DS2 changed majors, but is still on target to graduate with an undergrad degree in 2016. Their circumstances have highlighted a few interesting things:
–because building of bank accounts is top priority in avoiding loans, each waited quite awhile before driving. Why? Males under 25 are charged whopping rates for car insurance. Car pools, public transit bus and just plain walking remain their modes of transportation to cut costs as much as possible.
–dating simply hasn’t happened. It’s not viable when time is so limited and you’re also strapped for cash. Quite a shame from my perspective, but needs must I guess.
–while we’re a techie family, DS2 has a pay-as-you-go smart phone and spends very little texting or talking on his cell. DS1 couldn’t wait to get an iPhone, but now derads the monthly phone bill. He’s scaled back to a more limited plan at a lower cost. Interestingly, their phones are off at work, in class, at (budget) movies, if we go out to eat, etc. It’s the middle-agers I see with a cell permanently attached to their ear.
–clothes and other purchases are made only when necessary, often using coupons or bogos or both, and they’re NOT into fads/trends, preferring practical items. This generation (it seems to me) is more austere about the accumulation of “stuff”.
Good insights, Aunt Leesie. Our 2 millennials also worked while going to school. Thankfully, they started at community college and transferred to the local state college, so we were able to trim costs dramatically in that way. Seems to me that when I was a kid, my parents thought I spent too much money, too! And that was when you could fill the gas tank for around $10.
And as for the always-connected and the “kids spend too much money on tech” issues, my grandmother used to grumble about the time my sibs and I spent watching television, that we ought to be outdoors playing. She and my grandfather rarely went anywhere and didn’t seem to understand why we wanted to go to the movies or down to the Jersey Shore or just to walk around a mall.
In other words, each generation thinks the next one is a little soft, spoiled or foolish with its money.
Besides, generalizations bug me. How can you say what an entire group of people is, or is not? Sure, there are entitled lazybone 20somethings who won’t take just any job and who want to be praised for getting out of bed in the morning. But there are also millennials like yours and Leesie’s.
I fall in this category, born 1986. I feel like I have a fairly level head on my shoulders (started budgeting my $2 allowance as a kid lol), but I’ve admittedly made my mistakes.
For example, if I could do college over I’d likely opt for a specialized trade as a community college, i.e. dental hygienist. My student loan debt is staggering despite working my arse off to get a number of scholarships. And graduating in 2010 during the recession? Eeek. I thank my lucky stars I landed a job right out of college with decent pay & benefits. The job sucked lol, as do most first “adult” jobs, but I worked hard to move into a position I love within the company. I also accumulated some debt during my [young] divorce *sigh* Lesson learned. Some debt isn’t my “fault” persay, i.e. extensive dental work, but I’m learning to save more.
Anyway, every generations has faced challenges! 🙂