Retirement for the Millenial Generation

I am a millennial, I was born between 1980-2000, I am part of the last generation of the 20^th century, and don’t really remember a time without the internet. After graduating college, I quickly was introduced to an 8-5 job providing me with benefits. As a millennial, I am part of a generation who lacks financial independence, and literacy.  One of the areas I lacked knowledge about prior to working for a financial company was retirement planning. In a recent article written by Roy Maurer, he discussed the importance of teaching millennials worldwide about planning for retirement.  A research study done by Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies in collaboration with asset management company Aegon, found that 59% of workers between the ages of 20 and 29  located in 12 North American, European, and Asian countries are expecting to be worse off  financially in their retirement than their parents’ generation. Across the board employers are seeing millennials who desire to save money and are committed to save for a retirement, but are finding that millennials have a lack of education in finance. A solution stated by the report included “improving young employee’s financial literacy about retirement planning and create easier access to professional financial advice.” As one of Echelon Group’s newest employees, fresh out of college, working as a Social Media Consultant, I have benefited from working in a financial atmosphere. Prior to working with Echelon Group, I had little knowledge on what a 401(k) was and how a millennial, like me, would obtain one. Retirement was not something that had ever crossed my mind; it was focused more on graduating college and finding a suitable job/career to provide for myself now. “For twentysomethings, retirement is decades away,” Cathleen Collinson, president of the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, pointed out. “However, by making saving a priority today, their long-term savings horizon will help their savings grow with the compounding of investments over time. Getting into the habit of saving is not easy at any age, but the longer one waits, the harder it will be, especially with the need to make up for lost time.” Echelon Group encourages employers to continuously educate their employees on their retirement plans. It’s better to save now, than wait until it’s too late. “Twentysomethings have the ability to create their retirement destinies-They just need the opportunity and know-how to get started down the right path (Cathleen Collinson).”

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