Key Takeaways
- Your concerns, opportunities and capabilities will be addressed.
- Unlike older generations, you come from a sharing economy and you’re not afraid to seek advice about financial matters by referencing open forums.
- The Web offers tons of well-intended personal finance information, but it’s not all from reliable, experienced and trustworthy sources.
The best way to understand what’s going on with you and your money is to first address three key areas that affect you:
- Your money concerns.
- The opportunities your money makes possible.
- Your strengths and capabilities that affect your money.
I was on Reddit recently—the massive news, entertainment and social network with 36 million users. I like it because it’s a user-driven site with polls, questions and comments tied to communities organized by registered members. The majority of Reddit users are young adults, but I was pleased to find a forum there called Personal Finance. Here are some of the many useful discussions I found there that seem to capture what’s on millennials’ minds these days:
- Money and relationships. A 28-year-old guy’s live-in girlfriend just moved out. Since the girlfriend had been helping with the rent, he had to give up his place and move back with his parents. “Hey, who else is in this situation?” he posted. “Tell me what to do.” I was pleased to see that he received many helpful suggestions about the financial, emotional and social aspects of this issue.
- Becoming independent. Another post that caught my eye was from a 19-year-old making $800 a month, who wanted to move out of his parents’ home. Sound familiar? That’s not a lot of money if you’re thinking of going out on your own. Again, some helpful comments he received from like-minded peers who’d been in his situation themselves.
- Saving vs. investing. An 18-year-old had saved up $500 specifically for investing and wanted to know exactly what he should put his money into. That is not much money to invest, but he received some good suggestions, including whether he should be saving rather than investing at this stage of his life.
- Asset allocation. In another post, two 30-somethings had accumulated $100,000 and wanted to compare notes on three mutual funds they were considering. They got some great suggestions as well as recommendations to consider exchange-traded funds, mutual funds and combinations of each along with various suggested allocations of these funds.
- Real estate. “What’s the best way to dip my feet into the rental market?” one participant asked. “I want to buy rental real estate.” Real estate is a huge area with many complicated facets and moving parts. He received many good suggestions and caveats.
- Debt management. Finally, a newly minted attorney earning $80,000 a year had $170,000 in student loan debt. The interest rates ranged from 5.41 percent to 7.9 percent, and the young lawyer wanted to know the best way to pay off his debt over the next 10 years. Many of the responses were very helpful with some specific recommendations that appeared to be from people who’d been there before.
Conclusion
This blog will provide you with actionable ways to address your financial concerns and the concerns of Millennials like you, but to do so within a proven process that we know works. You will be able to access these suggestions any way you wish—through Live Casts, webinars, podcasts, videos, blog posts and books—on your own terms and at a reasonable cost. Stay tuned and hang in there for our next post as we review other issues about your money.
Until next time, enjoy.
Gary
