needed experience most careers demand. They very often sidle themselves with massive debt, even before figuring out what they want to do with their lives, or whether they need a degree to do it. Our society pressures kids to go to college as if it’s the only way to succeed. The current axiom that our youth must take on immense debt to get a college degree, no matter what their particular circumstances, is destructive for millennials in the long run, especially in regard to retirement. Simply put, generating substantial amounts of debt early on dramatically affects your ability to retire. Let’s say you spend your 20’s getting a degree in a field where skill and experience are far more requisite. Once you graduate you will spend, on average, $350 per month on your student loans for the foreseeable future. While you were busy growing debt, someone else worked their way up in the same field, saved $350 per month, and acquired valuable experience along the way. If you read my last article, then you will know that a dollar saved now is worth much more than a dollar saved later, assuming you invest and grow your money to beat inflation. If you spend half of your adult life in severe debt, you may have very low chances of retiring on time, if at all. Not to mention, the wonders of compounding interest are working against you, instead of for you. Many of the people in my generation are faced with the harsh reality of attempting to overcome a seemingly insurmountable mountain of debt, acquired by following the wellintended advice of people who still believe college is like it was in the past; back when it cost half or a third as much, in today’s dollars, for young professionals to acquire a specific skill or knowledge necessary to their career path. While reasonable and legitimate fields of study still exist, and should be pursued, they are awash in institutions that, for the price of one young person’s future, offer a lot of useless degrees or tack on pricey “free elective” classes which are anything but free and elective. Despite this, hope is not lost for those of us millennials who fell into the college debt trap. If we get serious about retirement, set some realistic goals and make the necessary sacrifices, we can still retire at a reasonable age. It won’t be easy, however, and it requires immediate action. See my last article for more insight. As for those in the post-millennial generation, who are beginning to graduate high school now, I have a simple question: How can you ensure that you are not wrecking your chances of retirement by borrowing frivolously? For that I have a few, more specific answers: 1. Make a plan, have a direction, and know what you want to do with your life: Many of us feel unsure about our plans, and it can be paralyzing; but there is a way to break out of that paralysis. It starts with taking yourself more seriously and discovering yourself. Spend some time alone, away from the distractions of the internet. Begin to write in a journal. Talk to parents, siblings, and friends regarding what they notice about your personality, good and bad. Develop some strong insights into your own unique and individual temperaments, strengths, and weaknesses. Find out what success is for you specifically. Define it, in words, on paper. Do all of this, meaningfully, and you will have a much easier time deciding what career and/or lifestyle fits you. To put it simply, don’t make major life-altering decisions for yourself, without knowing who you are first. 2. Understand what education you require for your career: After getting to know yourself and developing a vision of your future, you can decide whether college is required for you to achieve what you want. If you want to work for NASA, or study micro-organisms in a lab at the CDC, then you may want to go get a degree. However, if you are leaning toward learning a trade, like an electrician, a plumber, or a violinist, then you may not need a four-year degree and $30,000 in loan debt. Just find a job or an internship in the field you want, get the necessary licensing, and get to work. 3. Try to Avoid loans: If you do end up college bound, assess whether you need or want to get the degree from a pricey high-end university, or if a community college will suffice. You may want to look into the field you’re planning on getting a degree in to see if it has a growing and healthy work force and that the pay is commensurate with the cost of the education. When paying for college, utilize every grant, scholarship, relative, friend, and piggy bank to help avoid taking out loans for as much of the cost as possible. In conclusion, my post-millennial friends, I want you to succeed. You are the only one who has control of whether you will spend your 70’s and 80’s working or sipping pineapple juice on a beautiful sandy beach. You likely won’t win the lottery, find a genie in a bottle or discover rare-earth minerals buried in your backyard. Good luck generation Y, and Godspeed. S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 8
By Jackie O'Shea WORD SEARCH RETIREMENT S T R A T E G I C P L A N N I N G G R O U P | 9
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