It’s good to see many of the younger generation are out there working and learning about responsibility. Some of today’s teenagers however are earning a sizeable income with Australian Bureau of Statistics showing year 12 students are today receiving an average of $245 a week.   That’s a far cry from a few bucks earned from Dad for washing the car back in my day.

I’m not sure why the Y generation isn’t called the I generation given the amount of i-gadgets and i-gizmos in the market place, but regardless of whether you think they are the “Y” or “I” generation, a Commonwealth Bank survey[1] found many of these young Australians have no plans to save or budget, yet most of them still plan to buy a car or go on an overseas holiday. 

What’s frightening is that nearly three quarters of those surveyed had some form of debt, with around half not concerned about their debts stating they do not let the amount of debt they are in affect their daily lives.  While the easy availability of credit is causing some problems, it seems that mobile phones consistently seems to top the list for causing debt.  It makes you wonder how important those gadgets are …. but I digress.

The good news is that young people are keen to learn about managing their money.  The report Financial literacy: Australians understanding money by the Financial Literacy Foundation noted that the majority of teenagers want to learn about budgeting, saving and managing debt and see leaving school as a significant milestone in which they can start gaining control over their finances. 

So if you have a significant young person in your life, or you happen to belong to the Y generation, it’s never too early to start down the path of managing money.    Start surfing, web surfing that is, because there lots of great websites full of ideas and practical tips that set young people on the right path to managing their money.   The Financial Planning Association for example has created Dollarsmart, a web based and CD financial toolkit for teenagers to help improve their financial skills and give them confidence when dealing with financial matters throughout their life. 

It might also be of use to start looking for a financial planner who can help you on the road to accumulating enough assets so that you get to decide when work becomes optional.  A good place to start is with the planner your parents use, check the websites and make a few calls, it could be an excellent investment for you to make.

Please Note:

This publication has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. This information is provided for persons in Australia only and is not provided for the use of any person who is in any other country.

The report confirmed what is already well known about the ladies, that is that the fairer sex have budgeting and saving habits down pat.  It is a well known industry fact that women control over 80 percent of household spending and influence 99 percent of household purchasing decisions.  It was no surprise then to read that women in general are highly confident in their ability to budget, their ability to save and their ability to manage debt.    This is good news for the ladies because good budgeting and saving habits are vital steps for good money management.

It was also no surprise to read that the ladies tend to let themselves down a little when it comes to their retirement planning.   Many said they hadn’t thought about their long-term financial plans for their future and retirement or considered retirement to be too far away for them to think about.   The real worry however was that some of them felt financial planning was only important for those who had lots of money.  I’m not quite sure how much “lots of money” is, but every woman needs to take responsibility for her financial planning regardless of how much or how little money she has.

The real worry about the ladies’ retirement planning is that over a lifetime women on average earn less, have lower super balances, broken work patterns often because of family commitments and statistically speaking live longer.  Because of these trends, long term retirement planning should be a must for all the ladies, not one of those jobs that they will eventually get around to.

Interestingly the report found women are very confident in their ability to get information about money with a majority having sought financial information from professionals such as a financial planner, accountant or banks.  Even better, women are more likely than men to consider getting information and advice to help with the financial management.  It’s a bit like women’s insistence on asking for directions when lost in comparison to the blokes who insist on driving around, in circles if they have to, rather than admitting that they need help!

The ladies do feel a bit intimidated when it comes to complex issues like investing or understanding financial language.  This is a bit of a wake call for us in the financial planning industry to ensure that we speak in every day language and not financial gobblygook , an easy habit to get into when you are surrounded by financial staff every day.

Overall women make great clients.  They’re thirsty for knowledge, willing to consider all options and fiercely loyal when they find someone they trust.  If you’re looking for someone you can trust, that’s interested in your financial needs, then give us a call on 1300 766 323.

Please Note:

This publication has been prepared to provide you with general information only. It is not intended to take the place of professional advice and you should not take action on specific issues in reliance on this information. In preparing this information, we did not take into account the investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of any particular person. Before making an investment decision, you need to consider (with or without the assistance of an adviser) whether this information is appropriate to your needs, objectives and circumstances. This information is provided for persons in Australia only and is not provided for the use of any person who is in any other country.