Harriman High School

Harriman, Tennessee
Teacher: Nancy Newcomb

 

 

YOUNG AMERICA'S FINANCIAL FUTURE
By Heather Bernstorf

Grade 10

 

With today's booming, get what you want when you want it economy how might the Net generation (those born from 1977 to 1997) be sure of financial success when they enter adulthood?  Before we can answer this question we must first define "financial success" and the financial history of the last three generations.

 

Financial success means different things to different people.  For the purpose of this essay we are going to define financial success as living a comfortable lifestyle that is free of debt.

 

The financial success and habits of the last three generations vary significantly from each other.  The Builders generation (those born from 1901 to 1945) lived through the Great Depression and World War II.  They knew what it was like wondering where their next meal would come from or having to conserve and share what little they had to support the war effort.  With these experiences they were quickly brought into financial maturity.  During that time, buying on credit was not as easy or as socially acceptable as it is now.  They were also aware of the dangers of buying on credit and spent time growing their savings to buy with cash.  Because of this, they had little or no debt.

 

The Baby Boomers generation (those born from 1946 to 1964) reaped the harvest of their parent's financial success and lived during a time of personal gratification through many new socially acceptable freedoms. They took for granted the sacrifices their parents had made to have the financial freedom they enjoyed. The Boomers, unlike their parents, became more interested in getting what they wanted immediately. They had no fear of buying on credit and quickly were swallowed by debt. This "buy it now" attitude has resulted in many financial problems for the boomers.  They have not prepared as quickly for retirement as their parents did, but their higher education and higher paying jobs may be their salvation for their financial future.

 

The Generation Xers (those born from 1965 to 1976) are concerned mostly with figuring out how they can have everything they want. They are too impatient to save their money and would rather buy on credit. The Xers are infatuated with having a high standard of living and as a result are living way beyond their means. They are feeling the financial burden they have created, but have not yet seen all the consequences of it.

 

The Net generation has seen what their parents have gone through, but do not seem to care or understand. They have little concept of money and do not hesitate to buy on credit. The Net Generations' strong desire for the newest, best, and popular items make it a necessity to work.

 

One common assumption between all the generations is that they will never have to live below the standard of living of the home they came out of. They expect to come out of school living the same lifestyle they grew up with, not realizing what it took for their parents to get to that level.

 

It may be that until people reach their mid-forties they don't start learning financial wisdom.  When people reach this age they are starting to look forward to retirement, but many see the financial hole they have dug themselves into. They begin to look back over the last twenty years, examining what they did to get themselves into such a financial mess.  Many may see that the frivolousness from their twenties, and even thirties, has led them into the circular battle with the credit cards. Once you get dependent on credit cards it is very difficult to break the cycle.  You have to use your money to pay for the credit cards, which leaves no money for the many expenses of life or saving for the future.  As a result, you must continue to use your credit cards to pay for life and thousands of unnecessary dollars in interest.  Somebody is making money and you can be sure it isn't the credit card holder!  When people begin to look at their retirement they can clearly see they are going to have to change their frivolous ways.

 

There are people that learn early on the importance of saving money for retirement, but they are few in numbers.  Sadly, it takes most people twenty years to come to financial maturity.  Until we figure out how to efficiently teach people about money and the huge responsibility it brings can we answer the question of assuring the financial success of the Net generation.

 

One way to help ensure financial success as an adult is to get a good education in a technical field. Whether you like it or not the world is becoming more and more technology driven. While job satisfaction is very important, so is having enough money to live comfortably. However, high paying jobs do not always insure financial success.  A person making $30,000 a year that saves and invests their money can be as or more financially successful as a person who makes $80,000 a year who is frivolous with their money.

 

Learning by experience is a great way to learn, but not in the financial world. The Net generation needs to learn how to set short and long term financial goals (i.e. buying clothes and electronics, preparing for their kids' college, buying cars and houses, and preparing for retirement). They need to be taught it is ok to seek financial advice and planning by a professional. The most important thing, though, that the Net generation can do is learn by watching the mistakes of others, listening to financial advice from  experienced people, and to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!

 

Answers To Questions Regarding Required Reading

 

 

1.         In Manus the people invest financially in marriage.  The groom gives the bride shells and dog's teeth to marry him.  After the bride and groom are married, the bride pays the groom back with pigs and oil.

 

In the United States some people marry for financial stability while some would rather marry for happiness.  The people who have long happy marriages have invested their life and love into the relationship.  Normally, a marriage built around money isn't as happy as one built around love.

 

2.    No. of Marriages            Years married                        Thoughts

                 1                         33                        Your spouse should be your best friend.

                 1                         32                    Keep the lines of communication open, but

avoid the discussion of money and politics.

                 1                         27                    You should always be willing tocompromise.

                 1                         27                    Your spouse should be your best friend.

                 1                         25                        You must  be patient with your spouse.

                 1                         20                        Always be understanding of your spouse. 

Marriage is a give and take relationship.

                 1                         20                    Always remember Proverbs 3:5,6.

                 1                         18                    You should always communicate      

     1                         12                    Don't marry someone you think you will be

change.  Be patient with one another.

                 1                          9                                  Make sure you find time to spend time with

each other.

 

3.        Richard Eckersley believes our collective goal should be to dematerialize society         

        without reducing the quality of life.

 

4.        A worthy goal for our community would be to improve the quality of the public    

        schools by improving the curriculum, rules, and competency level of the teachers.

 

5.        The reason there are so many latchkey children today is because dual and single  

        parent families feel they cannot afford to lose the income from staying home with 

        their children.  Childcare is even further out of the question due to its cost.

 

Our country's economy is one of the best in the world for promoting financial success.  If you get a college education, and there is no excuse not to with all the financial aide available, you should be able to get a decent job.  More than likely, if you are not financially successful it is because you do not want to be.

     

       We will never close the gap between the races in this country until the government

       wants to.  Right now the government is have too much fun making programs for this

       minority group and being politically correct with that minority.  I believe the people,

       especially the present generation of youth, are ready for racial peace whenever the 

       government is.  The first step the government can do in equalizing the races is to 

       stop asking what race people are on applications.  It should not matter.  Secondly,

       the government needs to stop calling blacks "African Americans" or Indians "Native

       Americans."  If the whites in the country are not going to be called "European

       Americans" why should the blacks be called "African Americans?"  If there is a

       need to distinguish between the races "black" will work as well as "white," but the

       last time I checked we were all Americans.  The United States is a melting pot.  You

       need to join the stew or go some where that will cater directly to your needs.

 

6.        According to Kathleen Sullivan, lawyers are helpful in our democracy because they 

        protect us from the state and the dangers of "tyranny of the majority."

       

        Because the United States is so heterogeneous there are more conflicts about

        social customs.  The lawyers are needed to "mediate across diversity of custom(s)."

 

        The United States has always been a wealthy country.  In the 1960s and 1970s,

        when everyone's material wants were satisfied, people turned to environmental

        protection for a way to spend their money.  The people began to look for a way to

        solve the environmental problems through the law thus creating a need for lawyers.

 

        The United States is too large to know everyone you make a business transaction

        with.  Since business has become so impersonal it is mandatory to create laws  

        that protects both sides of the business deal.

 

7.        When looking at the many cases that punitive damages and regulations have been

  used in, it appears to me that both go too far in trying to solve problems.  It seems    

  that we would be better off to drop them both.  Let's say we have a mini van, and 

  there are 1 million of them on the road.  Three people sue the makers of the mini

  van because the back door flies open and each family loses a kid.  If punitive

  damage were to take over it would make the company pay millions of dollars for

  each case.  Yes, the accident was tragic, but money is not going to bring the kids 

  back.  If regulation were to take over during the case the judge would declare that

  the mini van manufacturer had to put two pad locks on the back door of every mini

  van.  Two pad locks would probably prevent the accident from happening again, but

  it is such a freak accident it probably would not happen again.  Three in one million

  cannot even be turned into a statistic it is so small.  In this case and ones like it the

  market should decide what the outcome of the case should be.  If a product was

  really a threat to society the public would stop buying it until it were fixed and safe

  for use.

 

8.        Society would benefit several ways from the retirement of the baby boomers.  First, 

        some baby boomers might set up their own businesses.  These businesses might

        offer services to the generation x-ers.  Secondly,  with the older generation leaving

        the work force, more jobs would be open to the younger generation.  With the baby

        boomers retiring at their homes, teenagers would also have the opportunity to do

        medial jobs for them.

 

9.        President Clinton's anti-poverty plan probably will not work for three reasons:  (1)

  Like the article said, most companies would be afraid to establish their company in 

  a poor section of town where they were forced to higher impoverished people who

  had little education.  People with little education in the work force are almost

  useless.  (2) Many presidents before Clinton have tried anti-poverty programs, but

  very few have worked.  (3) Obviously the reason for failure in these programs goes

  beyond the programs themselves; it is a mindset of the people.  Let's compare and

  contrast a family of impoverished United States citizens to a family of Vietnamese

  immigrants who come to the country dirt poor.  Both families are very poor, but the

  citizens see no way out of the poverty while the Vietnamese are determined to have

  a better life for themselves and their kids.  The children of the citizen's family go to

  a public school and make little of their education believing they will never go to

  college.  The Vietnamese children work hard in school and learn English.  They 

  come out at the top of their class knowing they are going to go to college and make

  something of themselves.  The children of the citizens turn to a life of minimum

  wage work or vice after high school while the Vietnamese children go on to college

  and become doctors or computer programmers.  Meanwhile, the parents of the

  citizen family work as little as possible and receive a well fare check every month

  paying little heed to where the money is spent.  The Vietnamese family opens a

  small restaurant in the bottom of their apartment and conserves their money by

  living off rice.  When the second generation of citizens become adults they are no

  better off than their parents, but when the second generation of Vietnamese grow

  up they have done very well for themselves.  Both families started the same, but

  one family was determined to do better.  Until the people in our country decide to do

  better nothing is going to change.  It is not the system's fault there are poor people. 

  If one person can go from poor to middle class why can't the others?

 

10.    Truett Cathy and tom Lewis have three things in common:  they both have a heart

        for kids, they both work with less fortunate kids, and they are both very active in

        their churches.