National authors William Strauss and Neil Howe who are mostly credited with originating the name in 1987, define Millennials as born between 1982-2004.  Strauss and Howe ascribe seven basic traits to the millennial cohort: “special, sheltered, confident, team-oriented, conventional, pressured, and achieving.”   American sociologist Kathleen Shaputis labeled Millennials as the Boomerang Generation or Peter Pan generation, because of the members perceived tendency for delaying some rites of passage into adulthood for longer periods than most generations before them. These labels were also a reference to a trend toward members living with their parents for longer periods than previous generations. 1 (See the movie Failure to Launch– LOL) 

This is important for employers particularly because Millennials are expected to make up approximately half of the U.S. workforce by 2020. Millennials are the most highly educated and culturally diverse group of all generations, and have been regarded as hard to please when it comes to employers.2 To address these new challenges, many large firms are currently studying the social and behavioral patterns of Millennials and are trying to devise programs that decrease intergenerational estrangement, and increase relationships of reciprocal understanding between older employees and Millennials. 

A recent national study conducted by Principal Financial revealed how Millennials are more concerned about their financial issues more often than older generations.  However, they’re less knowledgeable about investment concepts and financial strategies than earlier generations.   They reportedly are twice as likely as Boomers or Generation X’ers to want to talk with their families about financial issues on a weekly basis.  Debt reduction is the highest priority for Millennials but due to the age range, retirement is top priority of Boomers.

Family Factors- – Fifty Five percent of Millennials say that if their family has an advisor, it strongly influences their likelihood to meet with that advisor.  Eighty percent of Millennials trust their parent’s advisor and sixty three percent indicated they would work with the advisor to manage their inheritance.  (As expected, website appearance and navigation, along with social medial presence, are important to them when selecting an advisor). Millennials are often not aware that an initial consultation is often complimentary, as with our firm, so getting started is quite easy.  It all starts with getting an honest assessment of your current financial reality, setting some specific financial goals and then setting action plans in place, actually executing those strategies.  It’s never too early to get started and take control of your financial life, having a trusted advisor like a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNIER™ practitioner is recommended rather than trying to be an expert in all of these areas.   So what’s holding you back? 
 
1.  Shaputis, Kathleen. The Crowded Nest Syndrome: Surviving the Return of Adult Children. Clutter Fairy Publishing, 2004. Print. 
2. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennagoudreau/2013/03/07/7-surprising-ways-to-motivate-millennial-workers/#27d2e85b4ed9

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