Top 6 Ways Millennials Will Succeed Financially

By Shannon Nook, FPQP™ at Liberty Financial Group, Inc. www.lfgwi.com

It seems the younger generations no matter how hard they try, sometimes get a bad rap. Don’t get me wrong, every generation has its share of faults. However, I’m constantly seeing the media boast that Millennials don’t work hard enough, are taking longer to invest and they prefer life balance over working long hours. Believe it or not, this generation (one of the largest in American history, born 1980-1995) will be graduating soon and will be almost entirely infused into our full-time workforce this year.

Here are some tips we’d like to share with our new graduates:

1-Save for a rainy day. Check out helpful tools like www.Digit.com and www.Qapital.com that offer easy ways to show the power of digital auto savings.

2-Create a spending plan, hold off on the credit card. With student loan payments on the horizon, now is not the time to overspend on credit card debt. Stop paying for your own money and build a plan. Check out www.Mint.com, which can be an eye-opening experience and assist on automatically tracking your categories of spending.

3-Start an IRA/Roth IRA/employer retirement plan. Start contributing, even if it’s $5-$20 a paycheck. Take the free money employers are willing to match and watch it grow. You’ll thank yourself later.

4-Take care of your credit. Know that if you don’t pay your bills it will affect your future ability to buy a car, own or rent a home. View all 3 credit bureau reports at least 1 time per year via www.annualcreditreport.com. Check out www.creditkarma for your free credit score.

5-Check your bank fees. Many colleges will connect you with banks because they were close to campus, but may not necessarily be the best options. Shop around, don’t get sold on excessive fees for statements, minimum balances, or to come in contact with a “real” person. Especially avoid wasting fees on out of network ATMs. Think about having more than one bank, besides a local one, check out www.bankrate.com for online banks that offer slightly higher interest and less fees because all interactions are digital.

6-Find a successful mentor. Most people enjoy talking about their successes and how they got where they are. They might even share what may have went wrong along the way.

I should have disclosed earlier, I’m commenting from a Generation X perspective, but do see each day in our fee only Registered Investment Advisory practice that Millennials know a lot more about recession and commitment to values than even my generation did.Instead of being taught directly about money, income and investments, it simply went undisclosed in my household (mostly I think, from the fear of older generations who were taught to just keep it all a secret unless something bad happened). Millennials did see bad things happen (2008 recession), but I’ve noticed a lot more are on their way to financial success!