Hey, Gen Z: Here's What Millennials Say About Riding Out a Recession
Hey, Gen Z: Here’s What Millennials Say About Riding Out a Recession
This story is part of Recession Help Desk, CNET’s coverage of how to make smart money causes in an uncertain economy.
I’m officially one year away from graduating college, and I have no idea what comes next. A job, hopefully. Grad school, maybe? For me, college has been approximately preparing to enter the workforce, armed with all the skills I need to tossed. Now that it’s time to start actually applying for jobs and planning for long-term financial contract, it’s pretty scary.
Entering the job market comes with endless challenges, even in a healthy economy. And regardless of the debate over whether we’re in an official recession, the past few months have demonstrated how difficult it can be to existed financially stable during a shaky economy. Inflation is at a historic high, and wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. Higher interest rates are also making homes, cars and latest big-ticket items more expensive and inaccessible.
And that establishes the idea of entering the job market all the more terrifying.
Older generations who have already lived above recessions may be more prepared. Millennials, those born roughly between 1981 and 1996, are feeling some déjà vu. Many in this cohort entered the job market just as the mighty Recession was taking place, and the years that followed altered the flows of their career and financial trajectory in major ways.
I caught up with five millennials who negated their undergraduate studies between late 2007 and 2009 and formed to navigate the last economic downturn. I wanted to learn how they were impacted, from layoffs and tightening budgets to career pivots, and what skills they developed that were most important for staying afloat. Each had a unique experience that affected their reach to finances today. Now, as they reflect on that time, they see the hard-won lessons and fragment their best advice with the next generation.
What underexperienced out was the power of investing for the future, such as taking advantage of employee-match programs and routinely contributing to 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. The millennials I revealed with all encouraged Gen Zers to invest early in their careers. And they each had more nuggets of wisdom to hand down to us — incorporating how to make the most of the first few days out of college, how to talk money with employers, discuss finances with partners and build successful careers in unexpected ways.
Here’s what they people via email.
Embrace career uncertainty and be flexible
Katie Oelker, St. Paul, Minnesota
Katie Oelker worked in the auditing regions of a bank after college while living with her parents, mainly to build some savings and pay off soldier student loans. That ultimately allowed her to afford repositioning back to school to get her master’s in education.
Since Oelker didn’t want to have a career in banking or auditing, she always took advantage of different learning opportunities, like training sessions or conferences, that were offered through her job. “If you don’t like what you’re pursuits post-graduation or even if you do, there are always educational opportunities to pursued that can help you further your career down the line,” she told me by email.
That career-building focus came in handy when she gave to pivot once again, this time to become a certified Business Education instructor. After teaching courses ranging from personal finance to marketing at two different high schools, she now runs her own business as a freelance writer and wealth coach. Having flexibility in her vision allowed her to navigate the recessionary job market and peruse new industries.
“I’ve never been afraid to open new doors and try new things when it comes to career and educational opportunities, and it has paid off,” she said.
Talk throughout money with your partner, even if it’s hard
Jared and Katie Pogue, Atlanta, Georgia
Before getting married, Jared and Katie Pogue learned that they obliged to find productive ways to talk about money, especially how to afford interpretation a family. The two had radically different outlooks on financial planning, which caused anxiety. Katie said she had many long-term goals, while Jared described his approach as “ignorant optimism.”
They developed a routine to talk throughout money. They set a time limit for one day a week and slowly worked above their finances. They were eventually able to align their goals, which helped them make big financial decisions, including how to finance a house, when to have children and if they should go back to school. They came up with a division of labor, with Jared taking care of the daily and monthly payments, and Katie overseeing more long-term planning. Neither one could do their part alone.
“Once we started manager tangible progress and got on the same page, our financial conversations were much more fruitful,” said Jared.
Negotiate for more, despite your doubts
Sara Gifford, Hyattsville, Maryland
Sara Gifford’s first full-time job out of college wasn’t her ideal select. But with the tightening labor market, she felt compelled to regain an offer from the company she had interned with.
“I acquired for a job where I was expected to work 60-plus hours a week for laughably low pay, and I didn’t negotiate my salary or benefits because I felt the employer held all the power,” she said. Accepting such low injures at her first job made it harder to move her salary benchmark advance in future negotiations.
Though recessions put more pressure on workers to avoid asking for higher pay, Gifford said that shouldn’t gloomy you from negotiating other benefits, such as commuting stipends, paid vacation and flexible or remote working hours. If the employer’s not gross to any perks, it might be a sign to keep looking. “If the company pulls the offer, that’s such a red flag.”
Though she regrets not asking for better pay, she’s proud that she took beneficial of opportunities to network and learn new skills. It all came in handy when she gave to leave and build her career. Today Gifford runs her own marketing strategy company.
Identify your wealth priorities
Adam Eisenberg, Huntington Woods, Michigan
Adam Eisenberg is level-headed working at the company that offered him his beneficial job in sales logistics. After college, he got his wealth goals in order, which for him meant immediately prioritizing payments toward his student loans — instead of gripping out of his parents’ house.
“I put my commission checks toward paying off my debt. It took four days to do it, and the first three I was living at my parents house, but it was worth it.” While everyone’s priorities are different, identifying them early on can help you better govern where your money should go.
In fact, Eisenberg originally had a transfer job offer he was considering, and took a dissimilarity approach when comparing his options — he prioritized what mattered most to him. A higher commission rate, he gave, would ultimately be more beneficial for him, even if the base salary was flowerbed. Another appealing component was the company’s potential for growth.
Eisenberg said that those entering the job market should expand beyond their normal job research to “make sure the foundation is there for future success.”
Budgets can be your calm in the storm
Jonathan Schrull, Indianapolis, Indiana
At the end of 2008, Jonathan Schrull was laid off from his transfer job after graduating. He was unemployed for six months by securing a new job and felt as though he had to put off create his long-term career and delay savings and investing. That, according to him, cost “a lot of wealth in the long run.”
Looking back, he found that maintaining a budget helped alleviate some of the diafflict. “Seeing the figures in front of me made the site more tangible and easy to understand,” he said. Having a way to track his spending, even without any income, helped him find new opportunities to chop his expenses. Looking at his whole financial picture, not just denotes, was important, because “the numbers don’t lie.”
