Preparing for the future

[Mary Derman]

An economy recovering from a recession, crippling student debt, and an overly competitive job market are just a few of the things to list when naming the struggles millennials are facing in their early lives. Never before has a generation had to deal with the economic consequences of a previous generation like the millennials. Most millennials in their early to mid-twenties are coming out of college with no job opportunities available in the immediate future and the pressure to pay back student debt is ever looming. For these reasons and more the need to start saving your money is now and for all of the younger generations the importance of saving early on especially in your early twenties has never been greater. For most students when they graduate college their average student loan can be a minimum of $35,000. This loan estimate is only accounting for students with a bachelor’s degree. Students who wish to pursue a higher degree down the line may be discouraged to do so because of the already crippling debt they have acquired which could end up reducing the amount of people willing to gain a higher degree due to the additional cost.

Although the millennials as well as many people around the globe are facing enormous amount of debt there are necessary steps that one should take to insure that they have financial security for their present and their future. First things first, if you haven’t already you need to start saving for a rainy day whether that be for an emergency with the house, car, and or family. Even if those three things don’t apply to you it’s still important to have money put aside just to fall back on, there’s countless things that could affect your life where a little extra cash wouldn’t hurt. A save number to accumulate would be somewhere in the ball park of $5,000. This is a reasonable number that one can easily acquire in 5-10 years if they put just even some of their pay check to the side each month. Secondly and maybe most importantly open an account and start saving for your retirement if you haven’t already. Time goes by quicker than you think and some day will be here before you know it and if you haven’t properly saved you could be working well into your seventies. The average age for retiring has steadily been increasing the past ten years which has to for a multitude of reasons some being the economic recession, real estate crash, student loans etc. For these reasons and many more saving early on has become a necessity if you want to thoroughly enjoy your golden years. Lastly, and this one applies to everyone as well, limit your consumer debt. Today’s consumers more so than ever before are prompted by a multitude of stores/industries to partake in their credit card programs. Most industries today even offer rewards with most of their cards to further encourage consumers to use them. While it can seem very alluring to put everything on your card this can be extremely risky. Unpaid charges can accumulate and carry over month to month sometimes going unnoticed. On top of the debt that can accumulate with consumer credit it can also leave a trail which can be seen by promising employers which in turn can ruin job opportunities.

If proper planning is taken into account early on and smart saving becomes the new norm more people can start resolving the piling debt they’re facing and or prepare for it. As I’ve said before this is an ever more increasing dilemma for millennials since they’re the ones facing the bulk of it. I’m confident that if they start saving now as well as increase their networking web to further job success, they’ll be properly equipped to tackle the issues confronting them.