Singletary: Give your millennial a financial guide
By Michelle Singletary
Published: May 10, 2017, 6:00am
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Perhaps you’re a good money manager and taught your children well.
Or maybe you struggle with your finances and haven’t passed on good habits.
Either way, we parents of young adults tend to think that when our children turn 18 our job is nearly done. They hit 21 and we’re like, “It’s party time.”
After that, you might think that if they make a money mistake, it’s on them, right?
Wrong.
They will face financial challenges that are harder to solve than a Rubik’s Cube.
With this in mind — and with graduating season upon us — many parents ask me for a recommendation on a financial book for their newly minted young adult.
This year, I have a new suggestion, which will double as this month’s Color of Money Book Club pick. It’s “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties” (Touchtone, $16.99) by Beth Kobliner.
The author is a financial journalist who first published this book 20 years ago. She has just released an updated version that is a for millennials.
In 2016, there were an estimated 79.8 million people in the millennial cohort, according to the Pew Research Center. I wonder how many are prepared to tackle today’s financial issues.
If we go by the many surveys about this generation’s money habits, a lot aren’t ready.
Millennials want what most Americans want — a home, debt-free living and a comfortable retirement. Yet only 49 percent said they have a plan to live out that dream, according to Bank of the West. The survey also found that millennials prioritize saving for travel over putting away money for retirement or a home.
They aren’t being irresponsible. They want new experiences and, in their minds, they have plenty of time to save.
Kobliner starts with a crib-note chapter for readers who may be intimidated by a whole book about financial stuff.
In it, your millennial will find eight financial strategies that Kobliner says will put him or her on a solid path. They are:
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• Get health insurance. “It’ll help protect you if you have an accident or illness, and guarantee that you don’t bankrupt yourself,” she writes.
• Pay off debt sooner rather than later. “You can usually ‘earn’ more by paying off a loan than you can by saving and investing.”
• Ignore the feeling that you’re too young to start saving for retirement. “Saving money in a retirement plan is one of the smartest (and easiest) things you can do when you’re young.”
• Maintain an emergency fund. “Have money automatically withdrawn from each paycheck and funneled into an old-school savings account.”
• Invest in low-cost stock and bond index funds outside a workplace retirement plan. Chapter 5 explains investing fundamentals.
• Manage your credit score. “Think of your credit score as the GPA of your financial abilities, a numerical representation of how appealing you are to lenders. Unlike your GPA, however, your credit score is being recalculated all the time.”
• Don’t rush to buy a home. “The decision about whether to switch from renter to owner involves more than simply comparing your monthly rent to the mortgage payment.”
• Pay attention to your taxes. There are things you can do to optimize your tax situation.
“Get a Financial Life” helps take the burden off you. Kobliner provides the need-to-know stuff. And if your millennial follows even some of the advice, you can worry less about their financial success.
I’m hosting an online discussion about the book at noon Eastern on May 25 at washingtonpost.com/discussions. Kobliner will join me to take your questions.
Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071; or singletarym@washpost.com.
