Who are the Millennials?

Millennials: Finances, Investing, & Retirement'
Millennial is the name given to the generation born between 1982 and 2004. Also known as Generation Y (Gen Y),  the Millennial generation follows Generation X and in terms of numbers, and has edged out the Baby Boomers as the biggest generation in American history.

Add to this financial reality the record amount of debt (mainly from college tuition):

• This generation is carrying, and you have the makings of a severe economic dilemma.
• Although they have frequently been labeled as materialistic.
• Spoiled and saddled with a sense of entitlement, it is not without justification that many.
• Millennials feel that they will not be able to achieve life goals such as finding their dream job
• Buying a house or retiring until much later in their lives than previous generations did.

'Millennials: Finances, Investing, & Retirement'
Millennials are so named because they were born near, or came of age during, the dawn of the 21st century – the new millennium. As the first to be born into a digital world, members of this group are considered "digital natives." Technology has always been a part of their everyday lives – it's been estimated that they check their phones as many as 43 times daily – and serving them has been a major contributing factor to the growth of Silicon Valley and other technology hubs.

Research has shown that the Millennial generation to be the most ethnically and racially diverse in U.S. history. Gen Y tends to be progressive in their political views and voting habits and less religiously observant than their predecessors, Gen X.

The Economic Picture for Millennials
Millennials face the most uncertain economic future of perhaps any generation in America since the Great Depression.

Three decades of stagnant wages were followed by the Great Recession (which left over 15% of those in their early twenties out of work), and the income and net worth gulf between the rich and the middle class is at its highest level in the past 90 years. Though the job market improved in 2016, Millennials face a 20-year trend of decreasing labor market mobility. Labor market mobility started to stagnate in the year 2000, just as the oldest Millennials were entering the job market. When workers don’t move around, both from job to job and from region to region, employers have more power when negotiating wages – a phenomenon called monopsony—which translates into employees getting paid less.

Unfortunately for young people whose careers coincided with this trend, it’s difficult to make up lost earnings from early, slow years. The effect of initially low earnings is compounded when subsequent raises are lower and people are less able to save and invest in ways that would provide income in the future.

Add to this financial reality the record amount of debt (mainly from college tuition):

1. This generation is carrying, and you have the makings of a severe economic dilemma.
2. Although they have frequently been labeled as materialistic.
3. Spoiled and saddled with a sense of entitlement, it is not without justification that many.
4. Millennials feel that they will not be able to achieve life goals such as finding their dream job
5. Buying a house or retiring until much later in their lives than previous generations did.

Personal Finance Problems (and Strategies) for Millennials
In terms of income, Gen-Yers already lag behind Baby Boomers at a comparable age.