Upbeat articles and ones that report good news are hard to come by. Why? Because fear generates clicks and clicks generate revenue.
As a millennial myself, I notice articles about this demographic more than others. Personally, I’m tried of reading about millennials killing their budget with lattes and avocado toast, and about college students using their student loans to buy crypto. Sure, there are people that are doing these things, but what about the millennials that are hitting it out of the park? They definitely exist.
There are folks that are beating the odds and some even show the road map of how they got ahead financially through their blogs (for free!).
To change the tone of the financial news we are peppered with on a daily basis, below are a few stories of millennials and others that are bucking conventional norms and doing great things in their lives due to their attention to their personal finances.
- A recent podcast interviewed a janitor who just passed $40,000 per year in earnings and has a $1.4 million net worth from living frugally and investing in index funds.
- Teachers who were able to retire early with a seven figure net worth, and another teacher who is a millennial and is using their teacher income to pay down their mortgage early and save for retirement at the same time.
- A millennial who paid off her parent’s student loans, after she paid off her own student loans.
- A millennial who came from a very rough childhood and paid $33,000 to send his brother to rehab.
Obviously these are just a few stories that I can recall after the top of my head. There are many, many more that are out there. These stories are inspirational, and I think sharing more of them will help to motivate others.
Next time you see the financial news trying to start a panic because the S&P 500 is down 3% in a day, remember there are people out there that are killing it. It’s always nice to see people who were able to achieve so much, that started in a similar (or worse) starting point than you did.
I’m in no way trying to discredit how hard it is for so many people to get ahead, but I think it’s also fair to share the successes of others. Showing what IS capable is so much more motivating than scare tactics and bad news to uninspire those than need some inspiration.
I totally agree Ferv. As an Oldster, I can tell you that it is much worse now than it has ever been. Sensationalism rules the news cycle. Every broadcast starts with “Breaking News” as if whatever they are going to say next is required watching. And with respect to the FIRE writing, if I never hear the words “latte” and “avocado toast” again, it will be too soon.
There are plenty of really good stories out there about people who are trying, and succeeding at creating great lives for themselves. Unfortunately, they apparently don’t generate the clicks that negative news does.