I recently had the opportunity to spend some time with Jason Dorsey, chief strategy officer for The Center of Generational Kinetics. Known as the Gen Y Guy, Jason is an acclaimed keynote speaker, generational researcher and best-selling author. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing insights learned from Jason in a three-part blog series where we include actionable retirement savings recommendations for a variety of audiences. This is our first Retirement Tips from the Gen Y Guy post.
My visit with Jason followed on the heels of some extensive millennial research I was involved in, to gain a better understanding of how millennials save and prepare for unexpected expenses. Through this study, we discovered that while a large percentage of millennials are saving earlier and understand how much they should be saving, they still aren't saving enough. The research also revealed that 63% started saving before age 25, but less than one-third were saving at least 10%. Despite this, nearly 75% of those surveyed believed that 10% should be the minimum percent saved. Given these results, I asked Jason "What can Millennials do to avoid shortchanging their retirement?" Below are Jason's top three tips, based on his research:
- Hey millennials - listen up! Here are three savings tips targeted at you! (Yes, you!)You need to start talking about money. Most millennials are either working a lower-wage job or are still working toward a career, and taking longer to get there. Neither of which provides most millennials with disposable income. But just because you don't have money, doesn't mean you shouldn't talk about it. You need to start talking about money in a way that makes you feel more comfortable, confident and in control. In fact, millennials were taught not to talk about money. This resulted in a lack of peer support and urgency to save and invest (even in small amounts), both of which could dramatically impact your lifestyle and freedom as you get older.
Watch Jason share more millennial insights on money at JasonDorsey.com.