How to Talk to Millennials About Money

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When parents talk to their children about money, it can be like talking to an empty telephone. Kids, whether they're adolescents or they've just turned 18, don't want to listen to their parents pontificate on the virtues of saving money, the hard work that comes with earning a buck and how retirement saving is very important. Children just want to buy some ice cream.

In today's world, the paucity of personal finance is prevalent. Indeed, consumers today don't understand the lingo in the finance industry; they have no inkling to set aside money for a rainy day, and they're deferring any concern for retirement to a later date. In other words, consumers, of all ages, are indifferent to saving money.
However, since government schools are failing at educating students about personal finance, you should be taking over the reins and begin to teach your kids, or peers, about personal finance, like how to save money, how to earn interest and how to be safe in the event of a disaster. It can be hard.
Here are 6 ways to talk to millennials about money:

1 Saving & Retirement Are a Top Priority

Finance professionals are having an impossible time attempting to explain to adults about how imperative it is to regularly save and put money away for retirement. But, if you're someone who is already doing this, then explain this to your millennial children. It would be prudent to outline how saving, investing and setting money aside for retirement should be the No. 1 priority in your life.

2 Risk is Sometimes Necessary

Millennials don't want to invest in the marketplace because they noticed their parents getting burned by the economic collapse. This is why millennials are saving instead of investing. With that being said, they have to realize that sometimes risk is necessary to grow your wealth because, over the long-term, cash savings will be eaten away by inflation while investments will combat inflation.

3 Stay Away From Unnecessary Debt

Despite the financial crisis a few years ago, consumers are still spending, borrowing and putting themselves in debt. There are smart forms of debt and dumb ways of being indebted. A smart debt is a mortgage because you're essentially buying time, while a dumb method of debt is putting a $5,000 television on a credit card without any other resources to pay it back. Explain this to them. 

4 Your Human Capital is the Biggest Investment

No matter how much money you put into the stock market or how much cash you deposit into a high-interest savings account, the biggest investment you can make is in yourself. Parents have to emphasize how human capital is the largest investment anyone can make because this is what can help you generate wealth, remain stable and maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle.

5 Always be Learning About Money

Even the most tenured of financial professionals are learning new elements of money everyday. Whether it's a new investment vehicle or a digital money tool, we can always learn more about money. It's never enough. This advice should be passed onto millennials, who should be gaining as much knowledge about money as possible by viewing their banks' websites, reading blogs and perusing websites.

6 Simplify, Simplify, Simplify

Finally, this could also be one of the biggest recommendations of them all: live within your means. For so long, we have tried to keep up with the Joneses that we have put ourselves into massive levels of debt, and there's no way of getting out. This was done all for what? Impressing our neighbors? Always encourage millennials to live within their means, simplify their lifestyles and to value other things in life, like nature, music, food, a cup of coffee, loved ones and health.

We tend to have a false preconceived notion about millennials: they like to spend, spend and spend. However, as studies have shown, they're quite conservative about their money and remain concerned about their monetary future. Perhaps millennials would be open minded to having an in-depth discussion about money. Do not condescend, yell or confound. 

How do you talk to people in general about money? What advice do you give? Let us know in the comment section...