The younger generation has certainly been raised in an age where financial awareness is at an all-time high. While many of them experienced the Recession firsthand and learned that their future financial stability is the furthest thing from a given, they are now facing challenges that they are ill equipped to handle.
The current job market is as tight as ever and student loan debts are mounting for many of the younger population. When it comes to matters involving finance, mere naiveté alone cannot be blamed for the issue, as most young people are completely and totally unprepared for the financial difficulties that await them.
A recent survey of 18-26 year olds showed that a significant percentage of this age group regrets not learning more about their personal finances at a younger age. Three out of every ten participants believed that their high school education provided them with the adequate preparation and less than half of the participants who attended college felt that their overall educational experience did enough to prepare them for handling money matters.
Standard and Poor recently conducted a survey of adults that found roughly 57 percent of Americans consider themselves to be as financially literate as they need to be and as a result, financial lessons are not being imparted to young people in the home environment. While the idea that young people are not being given the proper financial training is concerning, the fact that they are developing self-awareness on the matter is not.
Young people now know that financial literacy is a crucial aspect of adult life and this is half of the battle. Going forward, more and more young people will begin to seek out financial literacy and companies such as the Bank of America have begun to develop resources that are geared towards providing this education to young people free of charge.
6 out of every 10 survey respondents also claimed to have chosen a college major that would help to provide them with long term financial security, but a nearly equal percentage of respondents said that they are worried about their major’s ability to provide them with the career path that they have always dreamed of. This uncertainty is not expected to quell their pursuit of the “American Dream”, however.
For those who are in search of a happy ending to the story, 70 percent of the young people who were surveyed said they remained optimistic about their financial future. Now that the adults of today have established the fact that they have concerns regarding their level of financial knowledge, the next step is to take action and it will be interesting to see this generation is able to pass down their newfound financial awareness to the next in a meaningful way.
