My generation is notorious for wanting to start a job today and become apart of senior management next week. We multi-task way too often and seem to do things really fast. Our second(and sometimes I think first) language is technology, social networking and blogging. We freak out when people don’t answer our e-mails within an hour and get impatient when the internet goes down for 15 minutes.
It’s Generation Y folks, the newest, craziest, biggest genration since the Babyboomers. Within the next 20-30 years we will have a massive impact on society. It will be like the Babyboomer generation all over again. And of course, history often does repeat its self. Business will have to keep up with the demands of Gen-Y, the same way it did 20-40 years ago with the Babyboomers. However this time business will need to cater to different needs, adapt to the generation gap, and learn what this massive number of 15-30 year olds want, need and will pay good money for.
I see a lot of exciting change for the world as Gen-Y takes over little by little. Below are 6 key areas I have provided that Generation Y will need to pay close attention to if we want to avoid the mistakes our parents made and step up our game from the past generations and to better ourselves as we mature into adults, the majority of us moving into our 20s.
What can we learn from the past generations? Take our grand parents, they went to war, saved lots of money and never spent what they didn’t have. We can learn how to handle our money, or at least save our money, from our grandparents and the “Bob Hope” generation.
1. Learn From The Past Three Generations, The Bob Hope Generation, Babyboomers and Gen-X
The Babyboomer generation, the one my parents are apart of. We can learn from their mistakes. Don’t piss away all your money on muscle cars, you’ll grow up broke and driving a mini-van? Ok, maybe not. What about how they spent their money, or how they handled their money. Quite simply, they did spend it and they didn’t save it. Lots of them went to university. Some of them were hippys that wanted to be free of the “establishment.” Some of our best music came from the 60s and 70s. They were interesting times.
2. Make Financial Education A Priority
We can obviously see, by studying the past generations, what neglecting financial priorities can do. We as a population are saving less and less every decade. In fact, we spend an average of 140% per year of what we earn. With the economy being the way it is, financial stress is becoming a bigger problem than it ever has.
Now we’re watching the gap between the rich and poor growing, the middle-class barely exists. You’re either poor or rich. Can you see what problems we’re facing for the next 10 years of our lives as we grow up, start a family, buy a house and so on? Statistics say, 90% of our parents will be at or below the poverty line as they turn 65 in 10, 15 years or so.
The situation has gotten to the point where we can’t ignore the fact any longer. We need to learn how to handle our own money and teach our kids how to do the same. Our parents are going to be retiring poor, our grand parents are at that age where they need to be taken care of. We need to take a stand before it’s too late. Before we end up much worse.
Personally, financial education isn’t an option. It’s a requirement, like learning to read and write. And if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right. This means learning more than knowing how to write a chuque, or applying for a credit card, or calculating compound interest.
3. Teach Our Kids The New Rules Of Adulthood, Break Time Worn Traditions
Our parents told us, and our parent’s parents told them: “Go to college and get a good job with benefits and a good retirement program.”
Are we going to teach THAT to our kids? Go to university and everything will be fine. Open your eyes! Do you know how many college students graduate and actually find jobs soon after? Not too many. At least not jobs that they when to university and studied for.
I don’t know what our kids need to hear, I’m not a parent and I’m far from it. But for the sake of thinking ahead and planning for the future, it would be interesting to hear a few other opinions. Creating new traditions and breaking a few old ones would be a good practice.
4. Understand The Value Of Education Beyond University
This is an old subject. Most people that graduate from University end up coming out saying, “what was that?” Great place to go if you want to party a lot, but you can do that any time and anywhere. University is also great if you’re up for an experience or need training.
No matter what path you choose to take in life, you’re going to have to work on your education. Whether college or the autodidact’s way. Eventually, it’s probably a good idea to go the autodidact rout since most of what they teach in college is bullshit. Just saying. Anyways, being educated means being informed on your trade. Not only learning, but also DOING in order to develop your skill.
No matter how much college you take, you’re going to eventually need to develop your skill if you want any of your expensive “education” to go to good use.
5. Seek Long Term Gains Instead Of Instant Gratification
Gen-Ys are notorious for being impatient and wanting to go from A to Z in an organization without the hard work and guts to takes to climb the corporate ladder. We’ve been accused of being self-absorbed and lazy. Whether this is true or not, I’m not totally sure.
I can speak from personal experience, I have looked for quick ways to make money but more than anything I’ve looked for alternatives to working a job. Like a lot of Gen-Ys I know, we’re looking for a better career than our parents had. We have huge dreams and want to make our mark in the world. However, we need to learn to plan decades in advance and work on long term planning.
6. Decide What’s Really Important
We’re between the ages of 15 and 27, 28, 30 years old. For the younger of us, 15-25 a lot of us still haven’t learned what we really want out of life. To put it simply, we’re in a discovery phase. This phase is critically important to the rest of our lives. The habits and beleif systems we develop now will stick with us forever. This is why it’s important to spend our time wisely, or at least make a few descisions about our lives and take on some new responsibilities. Hopefully most of us can gain clarity and get a firm hold on what we want before we hit 40.
