youngandthrifty.ca » generation y

Forget about Generation Y, Are we Generation F?

young — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 15:14:52 +0000

Given all the recent talk and hubbub about the Occupy Vancouver/Portland/San Francisco/ New York (insert big city here) movement, I started thinking about the current state of our economy and the dismal state of our current generation. I know. I’m being a Debbie Downer.

I came across an interesting article in the local Vancouver magazine by Tyee Bridge, aptly named Going Going Gone. It is about whether generation Y is should be actually renamed generation F.

Generation F doesn’t stand for Generation Facebook, but Generation F stands for Generation F&#(d

Due to Vancouver’s rising real estate costs and general high cost of living, many young middle income earner families (whose household income is in the healthy $100,000 range) are being squeezed out of the housing market. Unfortunately, the salaries and wages in Vancouver are not increasing despite the exorbitant increase in real estate cost.

I know that in other cities with high real estate prices, like New York, or even San Francisco, the salaries and wages have kept up with the cost of real estate, but for an unknown reason, this doesn’t seem to be happening just yet in Vancouver. Many people are drawn to Vancouver’s beauty, charm, delicious food, and of course, developing hipster culture, however they are unable to afford living here.

Many families are raising their children in apartments or even basement suites due to the high cost of housing here. Either that, or they are moving to the suburbs and commuting in to Vancouver for work.

I personally believe I will never be as successful as my parents were (haha, how’s that for positive thinking?). I’m not complaining, I’m just being realistic. Inflation has gone up to extreme levels and income has not. My parents bought their home in the 70′s for $100,000 and now it is worth well over a million. I know that incomes weren’t as high then but I still think that the cost of real estate is very high relatively speaking. I am 110% sure that the home we bought recently will not be worth 10x our initial purchase price in 40 years. Personally, I absolutely love living here but I’m not sure what this place will be like in a 5 or 10 years with the rapidly changing city scene and real estate market. If we move though, we would probably end up renting out our home to keep some sort of stake in this popular city.

I know that we as generation Y are given a bad rap for not working hard like our parent’s baby boomer generation, but I do feel that it is harder to work hard and be successful in our current society.

That’s why I think it’s of even more importance for us as generation Y to be able to “think outside of the box” and generate passive income or different income streams, be frugal, and save for multiple rainy days…otherwise we would probably be even more screwed than we already are.

Readers, what do you think? Do you think we belong to Generation F or do you think there’s a glimmer of hope for us 20-somethings?

Generation Y in the Workplace

young — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 14:59:56 +0000

I have been meaning to write this post for a long time, so I’m so happy to finally share my thoughts with you. As you know, the Generation Y are those born somewhere after 1982 (according to wikipedia) and the early 90′s. We are an often talked about bunch, probably because we are the child by-product of the baby boomer generation.

Generation Y Generalizations

Other people in the workplace view Generation Y as the super speedy multi-tasking generation. We are good with technology, type at warp speeds, and are often seen multi-tasking. In fact, at my workplace, one of my baby boomer colleagues calls me “Matrix” because she thinks I type so fast.

Generation Y is often labeled as “lazy” too, because we give off the impression that we want to get paid top dollar while at the same time doing as little work as possible. We want to rise in the work place as fast as possible. We are skipping from job to job to job, often lasting at a workplace for only abut 1-2 years before we move up the ranks to another job. This is in contrast to the baby boomer generation, where they moved their way up slowly after a time span of 20+ years to get where they are at now.

Generation Y also are an entrepreneurial bunch. I think this stems from wanting to live a life where we aren’t in the rat race for 30+ years. Generation Y are the geniuses behind many start up internet companies, let alone start up companies in general. We tend to live and breathe instant gratification, which is probably why we aren’t saving any money.

The Problem

Because Generation Y employees are seen as lazy and wanting to get everything for nothing, I think there can be a lot of resentment from the other generations (baby boomers, generation X to name a few) towards us. They have worked hard for YEARS to get where they are at now, and here we are, jumping in with unbridled enthusiasm and doing their job better than them. I think Generation Y has a lot going for us- we are ambitious, determined, great at multi-tasking. However, we have short attention spans (thanks to being used to doing homework with the television and music on simultaneously) and get bored easily. We need to change the way other people in the workplace view us, show them that they are pigeonholing us into a category unfairly.

So, now that we know what Generaion Y is like, this begs the question- how do we co-exist harmoniously in our workplace?

How to Co-Exist Harmoniously with your Non-Generation Y Colleagues

Don’t be afraid to show appreciation

I admit that sometimes, I feel that I “know more” even though I don’t, and I often have a difficult time accepting criticism. I’m not sure if this is a Generation Y thing (I think it seems to be) or if this is my own problem. I think if Generation Y were to handle criticism better, we would all get along much more harmoniously in the workplace.

Next time a colleague gives you feedback, accept it and thank them for pointing it out to you. Show appreciation for their wisdom and their many years of experience before you. Show humility. This goes a long way.

Be Eager

Eagerness never would be taken the wrong way in the workplace. It’s a positive attribute. Being eager with a member of the opposite sex in terms of relationships, on the other hand, is a whole different story.

Arrive early or at least be punctual. Stay later if you have work to catch up on. It shows that you care about your work and can give a positive image to your colleagues. At least do this for the first 6 months at your new job, and people will appreciate your dedication to the company and your determination to work hard.

Leave the Social Media stuff for After Work

I know that we live, breath, eat, sleep social media what with twitter, facebook, email and our smart phones, but when you’re at work and people are walking by your cubicle looking at your screen, you don’t want to give the impression that you’re doing this all the time. I know it’s hard, but if you want to succeed in the workplace and have people respect you, you have to respect your workplace and ignore all the hyperconnectivity until after work… if that can’t be done, at least hide somewhere where people can’t see you and check your facebook, twitter, and email!

Show Respect to your Elders

I think this is very important. Appreciate and value our elders (basically anyone older than us!) for what they have done for the company before we arrived. Show that you admire their thoughts, feelings, and work ethic. One of the most important things is to listen. I know that Generation Y has the tendency to voice their opinions easily and openly, though we must show mutual respect and listen to others viewpoints as well.

I hope these ideas can help you live a positive, fulfilling work-life. We do spend the majority of our time at work, so might as well attempt to make it satisfying and rewarding!

Readers, do you have any suggestions on what else might work for Generation Y? It would be interesting to get both a Generation Y (or even Millenial!) perspective and non-Generation Y perspective (Gen X, baby boomers).

The Young and the Restless and the Vancouver Riot: What Went Wrong

young — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 14:50:46 +0000

Many of you have probably heard of the horrendous riot that happened last Wednesday when Vancouver lost to the Boston Bruins during the Stanley Cup Finals (uh, Echo, you were right… we lost! ). Everyone was fearing something like this would happen, with 100,000 fans crowded into downtown Vancouver streets, coupled with booze and alcohol, and tension from a poorly lost game, made for some potential displaced anger.

But we didn’t think it would be as bad as what happened 17 years ago, in 1994. But it was much worse. It was really really bad.

I’m glad I didn’t go downtown this time, I think I would have been very disappointed with what I saw.

Instead, I watched from home on TV and was absolutely appalled by what I was seeing on television. I stayed up past midnight watching the live footage roll in of the damage that was inflicted. Cars (yes, even police squad cars) were turned upside down and lit on fire, The Hudson Bay Company’s windows were smashed, Louis Vuitton’s windows were smashed and $1000+ bags were looted and then later put on sale through Craigslist, people were stabbed, punched, beaten… you name it. It was absolutely disgraceful for Vancouver. In case you haven’t seen it here are some of the shots.

Image credit: www.vancityriotcriminals.tumblr.com

Image credit: Vancouver Sun

Image Credit: vancouver Sun

photo credit: Vancouver Sun

Seeing the footage made me feel like I was watching something from a zombie movie or a video game. Everyone’s eyes looked so glazed (hmm.. maybe it was from all the weed people were smoking?) and it looked like something was controlling them… what would compel someone to set a car on fire, laugh maniacally, and take a self-portrait with their iPhone, and then proceed to tweet about it and post it on facebook?

The one thing that the “hooligans” as they have been dubbed, have in common is that they are young men (high school aged to about 24 years old) and that most of them were NOT from Vancouver and most importantly, most of them were NOT poor or in need of looted paraphernalia. In fact, most of them were from middle class (or even well-to-do) families, including Nathan K. from Maple Ridge whose father is a general surgeon and mother is a registered nurse. He is a very well-known water polo player and is just about finishing his last year in high school. He was set on a partial scholarship at the University of Calgary in September.

Then he decided to screw it all up (though I highly doubt he thought about the consequences of his actions at the time) by trying to set a Vancouver Police squad car on fire. Yup, that’s him and his fancy kicks.

Image courtesy of www.vancityriotcriminals.tumblr.com

This reckless behaviour brings to mind the pitfall of our young generation, the generation Y. Is it because our baby boomer parents work so hard at making sure we study hard at school, make sure we get everything we want and “need” (you know, that new iPad that everyone else has, or those cool new pair of Nike Air Jordans) in order to fit in with the rest of our peers… that it somehow causes our young to lose awareness of how fortunate we are, lose sight of respecting other people, and lose sight of respecting other people’s property?

I am fully aware that a lot of the bad behaviour from that night can be attributed to the mob mentality (in my opinion, I honestly didn’t think that the video recording and photos helped any… although it has led to ~~slap on the wrists~~ arrests, I feel that having an audience in fact egged on the so called “hooligans”)… but I can’t help but think that some of it is because, as Blonde on the Budget recently put it, we are spoiled brats.

I strongly believe that when the good things in life fall effortlessly into your lap and you don’t go without, you don’t learn to appreciate life… you don’t learn to respect yourself, and you don’t learn to respect others. You don’t learn to cope with loss.

So when asked the question of whether I would rather grow up wealthy or not, I would choose not to.

That being said, I know that a lot of what transpired can be attributed to just being young and naive… but still. Take in point the conversation from a group of high school kids I recently overheard while on a sky train:

Girl with valley girl voice: Ohhh my gawwdd did you hear that Chris ended up going to jail that night? Like, I can’t believe he went to jail overnight and he doesn’t even sound like he gives a sh*t. Seriously. That stuff can go on your permanent record, ya know.

Boy with Justin Bieber hair: Yeahh, totally. He did so much damage. I talked to Chris the other night, and he said that he’s just amazed he’s all over the internet now and he’s pretty much famous! That seems to be all he cares about.

Girl with valley girl voice: Oh my gawwwd, that’s crazy. It was soooo fun that night though.

I was even more disgusted at what I overheard, that young people are actually talking about it and then not caring about the consequences of their actions. I was probably that annoying and reckless when I was in high school (I do remember talking very loudly while on public transportation and thinking that my loud voice was the most amazing thing ever), but I would never do damage on other people’s belongings or property like that. Poor coping skills, people… poor coping skills. Just because we lost, doesn’t mean you are given the green light to go on a rampage and cause $1 million damage to London Drugs.

Readers, why do you think these young people might have behaved the way they did? Do you think parenting has anything to do with it? Or do you think this behaviour is bound to happen no matter how one may try to teach their child the difference between ‘right’ and ‘wrong’? Do you think it has any relation to personal finance and whether our generation learned the ‘value of a dollar’?

Or do you think this is just somewhat typical rebellious behaviour from young adults/ teenagers?

3 Easy Financial Resolutions Every Gen Y should follow

young — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 15:43:19 +0000

Enough about my resolutions, lets talk about your possible resolutions. Sorry, I hope you’re not “resolutioned” out, but with a New Year comes new beginnings and fresh starts, so I want to take advantage of this.

Judging from the amount of traffic some of my personal finance blog colleagues received on the first few days of New Years, and how my friends have all been telling me that one of their resolutions this year is to be smarter with their money, I know that people are interested in some financial goals for 2011. Especially us young people.

So I thought I would share some financial goals that I think are an easy and painless (key words- easy and painless!!) way to start being smarter with your money.

Easy New Years Resolutions that Every Twenty Something should follow:

Write down what you spend your money on- if you only do it for a month, that’s fine, but it’s just to get an idea of where you spend your money. It’s sort of like a diagnosis of your money woes. You don’t know where you’re spending your money on, so you need to find out. Keep your receipts. You’ll be surprised at how much little, seemingly unimportant things can really add up (like those daily lattes!).

Make it Automatic- Paying yourself first is BUY FAR the easiest way to save money. You don’t need to think about it, and you will feel “poorer” because there is less money in your main account, so you’ll be less inclined to spend money. It’s like if there is this DELICIOUS looking cake in front of you, asking you to eat it, it’s hard to say no and not have a slice. If that cake wasn’t there tempting you, it’s easier to avoid eating it because it isn’t there. We can’t help it. It’s human nature. Even the most disciplined saver will benefit from making their savings automatic. It really works- sort of like hitting two birds with one stone. Set at least 10% of your pre-tax income to be deducted from your chequing account to a separate more inaccessible account (those online only accounts are good for that! I use ING and Manulife). The current savings rate is about 0.2%, so if you’re saving at least 10%, you’re ahead of the game. You’ll definitely thank yourself for it later. This is how I started… (sorry, I think I am sounding a bit like an infomercial now… but really, I think this is the way to go!).

Make a budget- Budgets are sometimes hard to follow, but they are a good guideline to go by, so you know roughly how much you should be spending on certain categories. Following a budget is easier as you get used to living with one. Squawkfox (a fellow BC, Canada Personal Finance Blogger named by Globe and Mail as #1 PF blogger) has an easy spreadsheet you can download (and it’s free!). Make sure you include debt repayments in this budget.

There you have it. These are three easy resolutions to follow so we can make 2011 the year of being smarter with our money.

Readers, do you have any financial resolutions you find easy and painless that you would like to add?

Why isn’t Generation Y saving any money?

young — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 16:46:53 +0000

I was checking this post by Studenomics that talked about why Twenty Somethings are not saving money and being of the same generation Y/ 20 something category, I got to thinking…

In the past, Canadians have traditionally saved about 10% of their gross income and stashed it away in their piggy banks. Currently, the savings rate is about 0% (or with a net negative percentage). In China, it’s 30%. For some reason, we are not saving money any more!

Really, why AREN’T we 20-somethings saving money? Why IS there a disparity between the savings of Generation X and Generation Y?

I personally have a few hypotheses myself.

Other than the ones mentioned by Studenomics, here are some reasons why I think we are so broke.

I think that one of the main reasons we (we being a generalized term) aren’t saving money is because we are so used to:

Instant Gratification

Our parents are the baby boomers. They worked really hard to secure the financial security that they have now. They worked hard to make sure we grew up well and had everything that we wanted or needed (or even not needed!), because when they grew up, they didn’t have anything. I remember when I was a teenager, I would whine for that $80 pair of jeans to be just like the rest of the “cool crowd”. Our parents spoiled us, really. What we want, we got. So that brings us to now, where we still have the mindset of what we want, we get. Even if that means charging that $300 pair of Rock and Republic Jeans to your card when you have $100 left in your bank account. Or leasing that expensive sports car when you really can’t afford it. We live in a society now where you have to flash your cash in material goods. Or else people think you’re a nobody.

We grew up with television, we grew up with technology, we grew up with computers. We grew up with images of celebrities and rock stars who have everything. Louis Vuitton bags, iPhones, $250+ jeans, BMW’s, Mercedes… this is the norm everywhere I go- at least for Vancouver, anyway! We are programmed to think that we need and deserve these items to be happy.

The other reason I think we aren’t saving money is because of the use of:

Credit Card/ Debit Cards

Like Studenomics said, we live in a society now in which we pay for everything by card. It’s really easy to lose track of how much you’re spending. I was checking out my credit card statement, and feeling quite proud of myself as I hadn’t had any big purchases on my credit card bill (YET- I haven’t gone Christmas shopping yet) but the bill still added up to $450 because I was purchasing $20 here and there. Little things really do add up.

That isn’t to say that I would start paying for everything by cash… I love charging things on my credit card because I get points from it! I guess the main thing to remember is to go over your statements, you have to be AWARE of what you are spending your hard earned money on. Don’t get trapped into credit card debt- yet sadly we are! According to a recent statistic, the average 18-34 year old has $8200 in credit card debt.

Speaking of debt…

Student Loans

Generation Y is super-educated. We have bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, doctorate degrees… MBA’s (phew, that degree can certainly knock a dent in your pocketbook). We also have super-student loan debt too! According to a recent statistic, the average student loan debt is $20,000. We are pretty lucky here in Canada where we don’t have to pay $40,000 a year for school. Back then, there wasn’t so much emphasis based on post-secondary education, you could succeed without a university degree or further education. The story’s different now- I know some people graduating from University of British Columbia (kind of an Ivy League school in Canada) with a degree are SOL- some working in retail still because it’s so hard to find a job. So we end up with high debts and a low paying job. It sucks.

Banks are to Blame!

Well, maybe. (Haha, that’s another trait of Generation Y, we like to blame things on others, but that’s another story). Back then, you had to have 25% down to buy a house. Now it’s all different, there’s so many options to choose from. Nowadays, the banks can lend you a mortgage for 5% down and do a 35 year mortgage even! This means higher monthly payments and higher interest, and less money in your pocket in the long run, but I guess we don’t really realize it.

don't let this be you, generation Y!

What do you think? Are there any other reasons out there that us 20 somethings aren’t saving any money other than the ones Studenomics and I mentioned?

Hello Financial Blogging World!

young — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 05:39:45 +0000

Okay, so I’m entering the blogging world. And am here to talk about money. And saving. And I am young. Hence the title of my website “Young and Thrifty”… kinda like “the young and the restless”. Catchy huh? Thought you’d like that.

So, it seems like the average “Generation Y” guy or gal doesn’t know what an RRSP is.

Most of my friends tell me “it’s a mutual fund”. So that’s why i am here. To try and explain that it is not a mutual fund, but it can hold a mutual fund. And explain much much more about that elusive and tangible thing, money (and how to save it)!

One of the other reasons I decided to make this website is that my sisters (er… they are 21 and 23 respectively, and yes, they are a bit sheltered), didn’t know the difference between a debit and credit card.

Yes, I know that is a bit extreme, but I plan to write about the very basics to the higher level in terms of saving, investing, etc. etc. because we didn’t get taught about money in school. And our parents (bless their baby boomer hearts) worked so hard so that we could live in excess and take everything for granted and not work a day in our lives and not know “what the value of a dollar” is.