Finances for millennials might look bleak, but the negativity is overstated.
As a Bloomberg article puts it, “young Americans’ incomes are depressed, their retirement nest eggs are microscopic, and their rate of employment is weak.”
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In a poll conducted by Bloomberg, young Americans aren’t overwhelmingly optimistic, either. 47 percent don’t expect their generation to live any better than their parents did.
In spite of that, however, 75 percent feel they’re moving closer to their dreams.
Only 23 percent said they are “struggling a bit,”or “overwhelmed” with debt.
And only 14 percent said they receive “regular help on an ongoing basis,” or “major support” for their finances.
If anything, millennials might complain too much and think their friends are in dire straits, but on an individual level, they’re hopeful. Fully 80 percent of millennials surveyed are “very” or “mostly” confident that they will be able to build a comfortable life if they work hard.
Youth is financially perilous by its nature. Young workers have less experience, less savings, and less opportunity than older workers. And true, millennials could be “the unluckiest generation” because of student debt, economic recession, and wage stagnation.
Despite the challenges of being a millennial, entrepreneurship might be the generation’s strongest asset.
News stories about crushing student debt, financial illiteracy, and low youth employment play well, especially if they let older generations castigate millennials for laziness or entitlement. Regardless, getting rich or building a life where they achieve their dreams remains a possibility for millennials, and the doom-and-gloom isn’t always warranted.
