Just like most of you, I’m a millennial. You read about millennials so often in the news, and it’s often overwhelmingly bad news: we’re lazy, we’re entitled, and we make tremendously stupid decisions. The worst part? Overall, I tend to agree with these gross generalizations about my own generation. However, like most people in my generation I believe I’m a special snowflake who defies all labels. I’ve made some good decisions and I’ve made some bad decisions, but at the end of the day I think I’m on a pretty good life trajectory. I’m sick of reading about the stupid things millennials do and I’d like to help everyone I can from falling into the same proverbial holes over and over again.
Wait… what? You’re the same age as me. Why would I take advice from you?
Here are my credentials:
- I work from home 5 days a week, most of the time in my underwear. My commute is 10 seconds. This isn’t a “get rich quick pitch,” this is my actual life.
- I’ve been in the top 20% of household income earners in the US since I was 25
- I bought a condo in the 3rd most expensive city in the US when I was 25
- I now live comfortably in the 2nd most expensive city in the US
- I supported my partner financially through grad school (excluding tuition)
- I have more money in my “savings” account right now than most millennials make in a year
- I have more money in my retirement account right now than most millennials make in a year
- I currently hold a bachelor’s degree from a decent university, and I have no student loan debt
- I’m relatively healthy, using whatever metric you want to define that (blood tests, athletic performance, weight, etc.)
So what? That doesn’t apply to me. You’ve had so many advantages in life, such as (x,y,z)
I’m going to lay all of the cards out on the table so we’re on the same page:
- I have a college education and a job that pays well
- My parents are decidedly not rich. My father is a firefighter, and my mother is a high school teacher. There is, unfortunately, no trust fund waiting at the end of my rainbow.
- I’m a white male
If any of these things disqualify me from giving advice to you, so be it. However, I’d like to present a counterargument: if you live in the U.S. in the 21st century, you probably already have a huge number of advantages compared to a large portion of the world and/or previous generations, such as:
- Nearly unlimited access to knowledge and basic education, for free
- A minimum wage and occupational standards that (somewhat) protect you from choosing between working in horrible, life threatening conditions or dying of starvation
- Lower crime rates
- Lower poverty rates
- Higher college education rates
- Medical technology that prevents you from dying from some easily curable nonsense
You have a ton of advantages as well. Your life can be great. You live in the land of opportunity. Few people are in such a position that absolutely no upward mobility can be achieved within their lifetime, and the good news is you’re probably not one of them.
If you want to sit here and whine about how bad your life is and how there’s no way to change it, then this site probably isn’t for you. However, if life handed you lemons and you insist on making the best god damn lemonade you possibly can, then you’re in the right place. Let’s get started.