Money and Millennials and Gen Z

Born in 1989 I’m what I call a mid-millenial. It’s generally accepted that millenials are people who were 18 and younger when Y2K didn’t hit, that is 2000. So if you were born between 1982 and 1999 you’re a maligned millenial. We often get a bad wrap as a generation. That is not entirely our fault. It was a weird time to be born. I’m sorry but it’s true. Our parents and grandparents were in general born after World War II so life was pretty steady. Their generations could rely on things like retirement pensions, owning the same house for life, appliances lasting for 15 plus years. Neighborhoods rarely changed, your neighbors were your closest friends you could trust. Kids played outside and were not heard from all day and nobody was afraid that they wouldn’t come home. Mom’s usually stayed home and did housework. Dad’s mowed the lawn, worked at the same job for 30 years, barbecued on Saturday, and retired at a decent age. Nothing much changed except the music and the length of skirts and hair.

Abruptly…that all changed. Suddenly jobs were going overseas, computers and machines were replacing people, prices on everything sky-rocketed. One day a new car cost more than my grand parents house, professions and careers became just “jobs”. Technology separated neighbors and families physically and mentally while uniting people from opposite sides of the world online.

Grandpa’s ways were smart and steady; but they don’t work for us anymore.

Life has changed rapidly, but most people are not good at change. The problem for Millenials and especially for Gen Z is that we still listen to advice. Advice from our parents and grandparents that used to be very good advice but is quickly becoming useless if not bad advice.

My husband and I recently bought a home and we were surprised to receive a significant discount on our home insurance simply because we are Millenials, and not enough of us own our own homes. Owning you own house used to be the norm since the late 1940s. Less and less of us own. Why? It is NOT because we make less money than people used to, or that the economy is worse. It IS because the majority of us do not know how to USE the economy to its best advantage. It is structured in a way that people have a hard time understanding. It doesn’t help that many of the younger generations today were raised in a done-for-them environment with parents acting as invisible assistants.

When we were in the process of purchasing our home, I spoke with a handful of other twenty-somethings I knew that owned their own houses. I asked what kind of loans they had, what interest rates were normal currently and what percentage of down-payment they started with. BAD NEWS: they had no idea!! Mommy and Daddy had taken care of all of that for them when they were in class or at work. All they knew is where they sent their checks every month.

Not good.

This is why young people are failing where they could be succeeding. We, as a generation, are prone to being victims of over-parenting, and then succumbing to our own fear and laziness.

I want to use my blog and my seminars and life coaching sessions to bring the info younger people need to their fingertips in a way that is understandable.

• What is a 401k vestment schedule?
• Why should you have supplemental life insurance?
• What is the benefit of a new car over a newer used car?
•  Why should you budget?
• What is good debt?

These are just a few of the questions I will help answer. In the end, all of us, regardless of our ages need to understand our money and how it all works. Having a grip on your finances and being personally accountable for what you do with your money helps each of us be happier and more personally productive.

I’m really looking forward to sharing these things with you guys.

If you have any questions and would like me to cover the answers here, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Abigail O’Rourke