By: Jane

Jane — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 05:00:30 +0000

This “recession” is good for the next generation, the same way it was good for many (though obviously not all) of mine.
- Learn to live with roommates. You’ll make friends for life while you save for education and your own real estate investment (with 20% down) and no stupid double mortgages.
- Immediately start investing in savings bonds. Even though I was stuffing my little cup of soup with soda crackers at lunch to make it filling, I immediately signed up for savings bonds. I never really missed the $10 per pay check. I couldn’t touch the money without a penalty for 20 years and received a bond in the mail. I hope they still mail the bonds – they looked cool and were a nice little pat on the back. They saved my butt years later when I needed an emergency fund.
- I’ll believe there is a recession when… the drive-thru line at Starbucks isn’t a block long… the manager at the Home Value store can be bothered to call another store … the price of an oil change goes down (yes, I have done it myself in the past)… actually, the price of anything going down would be nice.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:05:52 +0000

Many of gen X and beyond are losing trust that the government will come through with Social Security. We see programs being bankrupted by boomers in addition to their lack of savings. That’s enough of a shock to convince some, certainly not all, to save more. As a young man in my 20s, the most powerful influence came from older colleagues who continually suggested that I put away whatever I could. (I wasn’t listening to any advisors at that time.) I believe the best help for young people might involve default choices for savings by employers (e.g. – as described in Nudge by Thaler/Sunstein). Studies show most take he default option suggested and, as you point out on a number of occasions, our appetites for spending can adjust to what’s in our accounts.

Comments on: Didn’t save enough for retirement? You’re cooked.

By: Jane

By: Peter