From USA Today story about how millennials are stressing about their financial situation (and spending time at work on it):

The irony of course is that you would expect with all the fintech apps out there that millennials would be spending LESS time working on their financial matters. Raises a few interesting questions:

• Are they stressed out because they are spending so much time on it or are they spending so much time on it because they are stressed?
• What financial activities are they spending so much time on?
• Are there time-saving ideas that millennials can learn from Baby Boomers to manage their finances more efficiently?

It occurs to me that we as educators should be spending time on the HOW of managing our financial lives so young people can spend LESS time on this aspect of their lives. What comes to mind immediately:

• Set-up auto pay of bills that remain constant over time (e.g., rent, car payment, student loan payment)
• Automate your saving/investing plan: take consistent amount out of your paycheck
• Use bill paying service that your bank offers. Enter address and account information ONCE on your banking platform and avoid having to lick stamps and fill out checks
• Develop regular monthly (or 2X/month) schedule to pay bills so you get into a routine and can batch process them
• Some people like receiving bills on-line to their email account to eliminate the paperwork (I am not in the camp as I find emails are a lot easier to miss than snail mail:)

What ideas do you have to efficiently manage your finances?

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Are fintech apps the answer? Here’s an NGPF activity where your students will play role of “app reviewer” to determine the pros/cons of different fintech tools.

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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