What Matters to Millenials

It used to be that the mark of “growing up” was that you’d moved out, bought a house, and maybe even met someone special and started a family. Nowadays, however, these things don’t really seem to be a priority to people. For most millenials, the focus is just on landing a job…and many of them are perfectly content to stay at home living with mom and dad.

A recent study conducted by Bank of America reports that, among those millenials surveyed, 40% felt that having “financial independence” was equal to having reached adulthood. Surprisingly, though, only 14% said that having moved out was a measure of reaching adulthood. And, even more surprisingly, as little as 7% felt that getting married or even getting an education had anything to do with being a grown up!     

Sadly, a large portion of those surveyed, including those who had gotten an education, felt that they didn’t have a good grasp on the kind of money management skills necessary to help them actually reach their “adulting” goal of financial independence.  

When one considers the serious lack of financial education for young people in America, coupled with the ever-rising cost of college, and thus, the severe debt many millenials find themselves in when they graduate, it’s obvious that there’s a serious problem here. Yes, millenials may have different values and different definitions of being “an adult” than previous generations, but still, these young people need good money management skills.

If you’re a millenial yourself or you have one in your life, it’s smart for all young people who are just starting out- no matter what their definition of “starting out” is- to seek help and advice from a financial planner or adviser- someone who can get them off on the right foot when it comes to money and help them to learn how to manage their money for life….even if they do it from mom’s couch!