Troubled Finances of the Young and Restless

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I respect your opinion, but how is that comment relevant to this topic?
And although we may appear to egocentric, perhaps from our constant fixation to our social media outlets, we are actually quite selfless. Our generation is concerned about environmental issues, and have been raised around a great deal of diversity - so we are much more tolerant and accepting of multiculturalism, gay rights, and cultural respect.
As for the money situation...... I agree with V of FL - The price of tuition has risen dramatically, and these days it is impossible to find a decent position with only a high school education, so we are almost forced to go to college or university, in hopes of landing a decent starting salary.
However, a comparison between myself (who completed only 1 year of college) and starting working my way up in office work at the same time) , and a couple of my friends (who have completed university with a degree, or bachelors) and have taken out a large student loan.
After 6 years of working my way up from Receptionist, I am now an Office Manager, and soon to be HR Manager (which my company is paying for me to go back to school in the evenings and complete the program) I make around $40,000 year and have benefits.
My friends who have obtained better education, are finding that 1 - the starting salary for any position is less than what I make. And 2 - They are having a hard time finding a career in their field of study, or the positions available are below their skill level. And what would be the point of taking a higher paying job in a different field, if you just completed 4 years of school for nothing?

Miss Mac 6:37AM July 02, 2011

You've all heard it many times before, but it's worth hearing again. Members of Gen Y are the laziest, most egocentric narcissistic brats that have ever walked the earth. Let's stop pretending and call a spade a spade. Grow up Gen Y, before life itself makes you grow up.

Rob 12:20AM June 21, 2011

How on earth can we afford an RV, a boat or an ATV?! I haven't been able to afford a haircut in a year, new underwear, or a prescription, or food, or a roof over my head! There are no jobs for our generation because once we spend 300k with interest in student loan debt, our degrees are worthless and it's impossible to pay 2k a month in interest for our education. Then we go into default and are still living with our parents. It's impossible to save when 100% of our income is going to the private companies who are in bed with the government that we got our inflated student loans are from. Oh wait, there is no income. Never mind. So how am I going to save money for retirement? How can our generation save when it's impossible? At least the baby boomers will have the luxury of social security no matter how small it is. It will be depleted before I can retire. Then again I don't plan on retiring because that will be impossible too. Young and the Restless is an understatement. It's hard to believe that that average cost of education in the 70's was $550 a year and could be paid off in months. When I read that statistic to my Generation Y friends, they started crying. But somehow the income has dropped and the cost of going to school is rising at a rate twice that of inflation. The system is leaving our generation frustrated and full of angst. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I would have never gone to college. But no one tells you. Everyone tells you to go to college and you will get a job. What a lie. That was true 20 years ago, but not anymore.

V of FL 2:42AM August 08, 2010

A previous Fidelity study from 2005 also showed that 40% of boomers with adult kids were providing financial support to their kids, and of those half were providing primary financial support. Move forward to 2009 and no doubt these numbers are even higher now.
While it doesn't do any good for older generation people to give their "When I was young" speech because certain things -- like the cost of housing, education and health care -- are just more expensive now than a generation or two ago, it is important for X and Y's to learn good financial lessons from those around them.
One tool that can be helpful is VestMatch (www.vestmatch.com). Here, the person in need of assistance can set up a "plan", invite others who can see the plan, and provide transparency of how they will achieve the goal. These others -- like parents or grandparents -- can contribute to the plan and can see how the funds are used. It's a great way to provide help, incentives, and a forum for discussing the financial wisdom acquired over the years.

Matt Sadler of CA 7:07PM October 05, 2009

Gens X and Y have the twin misfortunes of having been raised in a time of unsustainable consumer excess in the USA, now coinciding with the "downsizing" of financial expectations for the majority of Americans. OF COURSE they're confused and conflicted. But having no savings is not the answer for them.
Neither is keeping up with the "Joneses" via debt.
First clue. If you have an RV, boat or ATVs, sell them all.
If you haven't started down that road, don't.

of 11:34AM September 04, 2008