In 2007, during the beginning of the Great Recession, I was a self-employed millennial running my own PR firm full-time. I unexpectedly lost three of my largest accounts.
I had a sense that I needed to be going after more clients, increasing my revenue and saving up more money, but I was a young entrepreneur with a lot to learn about running a company. After all, I started the business fresh out of college because the job market was so bleak and I couldn’t land a position in my field or anything stable enough to carry me financially. The business had allowed me to cover all my bills and stash away a good deal of cash, but, when the recession hit, I became afraid. When I began the business three years earlier without any money, I didn’t even have enough to open a bank account. Now, here I was again with no more money and no one to ask for help.
Why didn’t I just go get a job? Well, it’s not that simple. Millennials came into the workforce hoping to lock down a secure career and bank on a big payday only to be disappointed that neither of those things were readily available. We watched our parents work for years at the same company and believe they had a nest egg for retirement that somehow disappeared. We make less money than previous generations and have smaller incomes and bigger debts because we're often underemployed and underpaid.
So, we’ve figured out how to use technology to do more and spend less. We love discounts, deals and freebies. We’ve put off commitments like marriage and home ownership not because they don’t hold value to us but because we want to be stable enough to fully enjoy those experiences without major financial woes. We like money and appreciate the finer things, but live for a bargain. We did not want to follow in our parents’ footsteps so we started scrambling up extra money in addition to our full time jobs as side hustles (Pew Research).
This year, we’ll approach the 10-year anniversary of the Great Recession. It took a while but I’m doing pretty well now financially. However, I am concerned about my generation. As the oldest millennials turn 37 this year – an age where most Americans are supposed to be at their peak spending age – millennials are still feeling the aftermath of the Recession (Morgan Stanley).
We are the largest generation of the U.S. workforce and, as we age, many factors will bear down on our financial future: Social Security is underfunded, our life expectancy is on the rise and college debt won’t disappear. Many millennials, especially those who are entrepreneurial, don’t always learn things we should about money or by the time we do we’ve already been cast out into the world burdened by money mistakes and financial mess-ups. We are a considerably underfinanced generation, which is why we have no choice but to start saving as much as possible, living on significantly less and seeking financial advice.
Where is our money? How can millennials drive growth to the U.S. economy? What will predictions say about our financial contributions? How can we develop a sustainable plan for future generations?
We have to get to saving. Twenty-three percent of younger millennials (18–24) don't have a savings account and 43 percent of millennials who make $75–$100k a year don't have a savings account or have nothing saved. If we don’t save today, we’ll be playing catch up later.
We have to remain frugal. Millennials should have a vision for where we might want to be financially. We must plan for our finances to keep us comfortable and learn to live below our means. Develop a budget and set money goals accordingly – translation: buy a few less lattes.
We have to ask for help. As resourceful as we are and as much as we value relationships, we shouldn’t have a problem getting money advice and financial guidance to manage the things we value most. The earlier we enlist help, the better off we’ll be.
Contrary to what is said or perceived, millennials are not lazy, entitled slackers. We have the same needs and wants as older generations — financial security, family stability and retirement savings. As we plan for the future, we must consider the kind of commitments, goals and investments we will set with our money. We know how to use our profit—what we gain out of life—to supply our purpose in the world because we inherently understand that profit is not just about money. Profit includes your time, life takeaways, raw talents and trusted tangibles. And, millennials are going to need all of those to build a sturdy foundation for the future of our money.
