#GenZ #HavingChildren #WhenToHaveChildren #ConcernAboutTheFuture #men #women
How do you define success?
If you are between 18 and 29 years old, depending on whether you are a man or a woman, you may view success differently, according to a recent NBC News poll, conducted with Survey Monkey.
Both men and women all ranked having a fulfilling job, having money to do the things they want to do and achieving financial independence highly, the poll says.
About 25 percent of those polled say they are worried about their future.
But a remarkable percentage of Gen Z men ranked having children as their top characteristic of success. Women ranked having children closer to the bottom of their priorities, the poll said.
Today’s politics is filled with notions of women concentrating more on motherhood than careers.
But, with this generation having a more difficult time than their parents did in making a life, the idea of having children may be a low priority for many women.
In decades past, it was easier for women to stay at home while men went to work. Today, with prices of necessities soaring, it’s almost impossible to live on one salary.
It’s no wonder this generation is feeling anxious about the future.
Politicians like to carve out dream scenarios. Often, they are just dreams untethered to reality.
Even with both men and women in the same household working, making ends meet – let alone saving for a house or retirement – is much more difficult.
They can only look at their parents and grandparents and wonder how they could build the equity they had built. Inheritance may be their only hope.
Not only is it financially difficult to have children, it’s can be financially difficult to get married. Some data indicates that many first-time home buyers are in their 40s, when it’s supposed to be the prime of your earning years.
Their parents and grandparents may have gotten married fairly young, bought a small house fairly early into their marriage and traded up to better housing over the years to accommodate their families.
Many of those parents or grandparents have adult children living with them, because, even with a job, they can’t live on their own, let alone start a family.
If young men see success in having children, how are they going to do that?
If such young men still live with mom and dad, they are already starting from behind.
With unaffordable rents, and salaries and job opportunities not commensurate with those rents, they can’t start building a life outside of mom and dad’s house.
Having children may be great, but one has to be able to afford them. Having children you can’t afford will only put those kids behind in many ways.
The same politicians encouraging young people to have children are the same ones who refuse to help provide for those children once they are born.
So, if you are young today, make the best choices you can. Don’t let anyone bully you into a life you can’t handle.
Remember: Step 1 is finding a reasonably good paying job. Step 2 is moving out of mom and dad’s house. Step 3 is finding a good, responsible life partner. Once you’ve done those things, you can think about when to have a family.
Peter
Tag Archives: women
BEING YOUNG IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE
#YoungMen #YoungPeople #women #minorities #AdaptingToChange #DifferencesInIncome
It’s tough to be young today.
It’s even tougher, it seems, to be a young man.
As a man, you were always taught to be a provider for your family. At the same time, there was a building movement to advance women and minorities in the work force.
Over time, young women became more educated than young men, in aggregate numbers.
As a young man with less education, your options became more limited. The strong-back, laborious jobs that once paid pretty well, were not paying well at all. On top of that, many of those jobs were being eliminated altogether because of technology.
Did it bother you, as a young man, that a woman that you might like to be with was better educated, and perhaps making more money than you? How can you “provide” for her?
Worse yet, would that well-educated woman you like even give you the time of day, because you are not as educated, and not making as much as she is?
First, the advancement of women and minorities in the work force has been a GOOD thing.
Before that, women, who were not necessarily guaranteed to find a “provider,” could not necessarily live on their own without help.
They were pigeon-holed into certain job categories with little opportunity for advancement. They were secretaries, teachers, nurses etc. Those are noble professions, to be sure, but moving up in those careers can be difficult.
If you were a woman who was able to find someone to provide for you, you may have gotten married and had children, which presented a whole new set of work-force challenges for you.
Now, the pendulum has swung a bit in the other direction, and young men, particularly those who did not go to college, are left with limited career options.
Even some with a good education may not be able to find a job that would make that education pay off. To complicate that, if you borrowed money to go to college, you may have debt that will keep you from advancing in life.
Moving back with mom and dad should only be a temporary solution. But, for more and more young men in particular, there is no other way to make it at the moment.
Apartments in New York City are going for $6,000 a month, yet are still being gobbled up. Young people have to find roommates to make it work, and, even then, they are still paying more than the 30 percent of their income that should go to housing.
Note here that certain places are more expensive to live in than others because they are more desirable. A young person on his or her own would rather be nearer a big city than a rural town, if only for the social life options.
Yes, it’s difficult to be young today, but resorting to vices – drugs, alcohol etc. – to ease your troubles is not the answer.
You may have to look harder for opportunities, but they are there. You may have to relocate to find them, but they are out there. So many employers are looking for good, hard workers. Many of them are willing to pay for the right people.
There are more opportunities to come as technology improves. (Warning: if you are in a job that will be eliminated by technology eventually, prepare for that now.)
You can’t stop the world from changing. You can’t go back to the way things were decades ago. You just have to find ways to adapt to the here and now. If you do, life, eventually, will treat you well.
Peter
It’s tough to be young today.
It’s even tougher, it seems, to be a young man.
As a man, you were always taught to be a provider for your family. At the same time, there was a building movement to advance women and minorities in the work force.
Over time, young women became more educated than young men, in aggregate numbers.
As a young man with less education, your options became more limited. The strong-back, laborious jobs that once paid pretty well, were not paying well at all. On top of that, many of those jobs were being eliminated altogether because of technology.
Did it bother you, as a young man, that a woman that you might like to be with was better educated, and perhaps making more money than you? How can you “provide” for her?
Worse yet, would that well-educated woman you like even give you the time of day, because you are not as educated, and not making as much as she is?
First, the advancement of women and minorities in the work force has been a GOOD thing.
Before that, women, who were not necessarily guaranteed to find a “provider,” could not necessarily live on their own without help.
They were pigeon-holed into certain job categories with little opportunity for advancement. They were secretaries, teachers, nurses etc. Those are noble professions, to be sure, but moving up in those careers can be difficult.
If you were a woman who was able to find someone to provide for you, you may have gotten married and had children, which presented a whole new set of work-force challenges for you.
Now, the pendulum has swung a bit in the other direction, and young men, particularly those who did not go to college, are left with limited career options.
Even some with a good education may not be able to find a job that would make that education pay off. To complicate that, if you borrowed money to go to college, you may have debt that will keep you from advancing in life.
Moving back with mom and dad should only be a temporary solution. But, for more and more young men in particular, there is no other way to make it at the moment.
Apartments in New York City are going for $6,000 a month, yet are still being gobbled up. Young people have to find roommates to make it work, and, even then, they are still paying more than the 30 percent of their income that should go to housing.
Note here that certain places are more expensive to live in than others because they are more desirable. A young person on his or her own would rather be nearer a big city than a rural town, if only for the social life options.
Yes, it’s difficult to be young today, but resorting to vices – drugs, alcohol etc. – to ease your troubles is not the answer.
You may have to look harder for opportunities, but they are there. You may have to relocate to find them, but they are out there. So many employers are looking for good, hard workers. Many of them are willing to pay for the right people.
There are more opportunities to come as technology improves. (Warning: if you are in a job that will be eliminated by technology eventually, prepare for that now.)
You can’t stop the world from changing. You can’t go back to the way things were decades ago. You just have to find ways to adapt to the here and now. If you do, life, eventually, will treat you well.
Peter
JOB MARKET BRINGS OUT OLDER WOMEN
#JobMarket #women #OlderWomen #employment #BackInWorkforce
Erica Hernandez, at age 54, decided to go back to work after 19 years as a stay-at-home mom.
The best job market in half a century has been a boon for older women going back to work, typically after raising children for nearly 20years, according to an article in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published April 1, 2019.
The 3.8 percent unemployment rate is near a 50-year-low, and there were a near-record 7.6 million job openings in January, the article quotes Labor Department figures.
In Hernandez’s case, she and her husband’s retirement fund had been depleted while she stayed home, and they were unable to do a lot of dining out and other fun things, the article says.
“My husband shouldered the burden all these years,” Hernandez, from South San Francisco, is quoted in the article.
Incidently, Hernandez did not get a job as a public relations executive, as she once was. She got a job as an administrative assistant, according to the article.
Therein lies the rub. Certainly, there are jobs out there for older women and others. But are the jobs as good as the job a person previously held? In many cases, they pay much less.
It’s tough for anyone who has been out of the work force for a time to go back to a job that was as good, or better, than the one they once had.
In some cases, people have lost jobs through reorganization, downsizing etc. What they find when they check out the job market is: what’s out there generally pays less, and often require as many or more working hours.
In other cases, what might be available may not give a person enough working hours to make a living. That induces people to cobble together an income with several part-time jobs, or even several full-time jobs, to allow them to live the life they’ve known.
If you are an older woman, like Hernandez, the income may not matter to you, as long as you can squirrel it away for retirement, college tuition etc. And, there could be less stress than she may have been accustomed to in her previous career.
But for others who may be approaching retirement, or facing college bills, it may not be such a convenient choice.
If that sounds like your situation, there are alternatives. First, if you have children going to college, or getting ready for college, talk to them about your financial situation. If they can apply for scholarships, and get them, that certainly helps. But, a good student can postpone college for a time and get a job that will help pay for it. This may be the only good reason to have adult children living at home.
After that discussion, determine that your retirement will be the priority. If the kids really want to go to college that badly, put the onus on them to figure out how to pay for it.
Secondly, there are many vehicles out there that can provide an income without having to take a W-2 job.They are suitable to anyone, regardless of age, education and background, if the person is willing to check them out. In fact, the income potential could potentially exceed any expected income from a traditional job. To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
The article about older women going back to work points out that these ladies face many obstacles, including rusty skills, a lack of confidence, employer discrimination, new technologies and social media.
If you care not to deal with those obstacles, and want to earn extra money to fund your retirement and other expenses, you may have to think outside your comfort zone and look at something completely different.
Peter
WOMEN SEE RETIREMENT AS LIBERATING
#women #retirement #WomenInRetirement #RetiredWomen
Forget the doom and gloom.
American women are increasingly viewing their retirement years with optimism, seeing the aging process as liberating.
So writes Adam Shell for USA Today. His article was also published in the Nov. 17, 2018, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Women are so enthusiastic when it comes to aging, and that is a different message than what is out there,” the articles quotes Christine Russell, senior manager of retirement and annuities at TD Ameritrade.
Seventy is the new 50, Shell writes.
The stats suggest that women are “planning for a longer life,” an acknowledgement that should home in on taking the financial steps to fund the lives they want to lead in their later years, the article quotes Russell.
If women are planning for a long, healthy and prosperous life, why can’t all of us do the same?
Everyone’s circumstances are different. You might add the adjective “wealthy” to the women who are planning so carefully.
Truth is, we all can do it, to varying degrees. If you are not wealthy, you will just need more time to plan so you can get there.
That means starting early – right when you start working. You may have to start with a small amount. Even socking away $5 every week from your paycheck will be a start. That’s the equivalent of one or two beverages from your favorite coffee shop every week.
Then, as you get raises, sock those away. As your costs go up, perhaps you can bring your lunch to work instead of buying lunch.
In short, you can plan for a healthy retirement by making it a priority in your life.
Sure, not everyone has that discipline. For some, the discipline may have to be cultivated.
Also, expenses, foreseen and unforeseen, will come up for which you may have to tap into your savings. Buying a house is a good example of a foreseen expense. A big medical bill is an example of an unforeseen expense.
Still, if you have cultivated the discipline and made retirement savings a priority, you can catch up relatively quickly.
Some believe that in your young life, you need to provide for your family first. As your children grow to adulthood, you can start saving in earnest.
That works only if you know that your job will be there for as long as you want. Few can say that today.
If you have trouble leveraging your income, perhaps leveraging your time can accomplish the same thing. There are many vehicles out there that allow people to spend a few part-time hours a week and pick up a potentially lucrative income in addition to their regular W-2 income. If you are willing to step outside of your box and check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Saving for retirement, and planning for a long life, mainly requires discipline and prioritizing. Anyone can do it, by spending less and saving more. You can still treat yourself, but make those treats worthwhile and rare – perhaps until those later years come.
To quote the old adage: do today what others won’t, so you can do tomorrow what others can’t.
Peter
DOES YOUR PERSONALITY AFFECT EARNINGS?
#personality #earnings #PersonalityAffectsEarnings
Many of us have witnessed people being belligerent a t work. Perhaps they got fired.
We may have seen others who suck up to the boss, and get promoted.
But what about more subtle personality traits? Do they affect how much one might earn?
Tyler Cowen tackles this subject in an article for Bloomberg. It was also published Sept. 17, 2018, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Cowen quotes a study by Miriam Gensowski at the University of Copenhagen. She revisited data from California schools, back in 1921-22. She culled out the top 0.5 percent of student in the IQ distribution, meaning they scored 140 or higher on the IQ test.
What did she find? Cutting through a lot of numbers, she discovered that conscientiousness mattered for men. Men who scored higher on the conscientiousness scale earned an extra $567,000 over their lifetimes, the article says.
For women, extroversion correlated with higher earnings – even more strongly than conscientiousness, unlike for men, the article says.
The article quotes the study saying that more “agreeable” men earned significantly less. Remember the saying, “nice guys finish last?”
“One possibility is that more agreeable men self-select into lower-earning, more subordinate professions,“ Cowen writes.
And, perhaps no surprise, the smartest ones among the smartest ones generally earned more, the article says.
OK, so you are who you are. You may think you aren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer, and the study referenced above may not have looked at people like you.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t make it above where you think you should be – if you want to.
Being conscientious will help. If that doesn’t come naturally, work on it – man or woman. Conscientiousness is something that can be acquired with effort, if it doesn’t come naturally.
To a lesser extent, extroversion can also be acquired but, for some, requires a good bit more effort. If you are naturally shy, you can change that, but you have to be motivated to WANT to change it.
Right now, you could be working in a job that you do not believe will EVER make you “successful,” as experts seem to define it, or wealthy. Don’t fret. There are ways out there for people, even shy people, to be successful. You just have to be willing to look for them. And, though you may be shy, you HAVE to be teachable.
If you WANT to change your life and are willing to check out one of the best such vehicles to potential success, message me.
Teachability can compensate for many natural personality traits. Conscientiousness, however, is easy to learn, in relative terms.
The lesson here, perhaps, is don’t let the person inside you take the best out of you. Be willing to find the best that’s inside you, and bring it out.
Sometimes, it takes another person to see the best that’s inside you and help you bring it out. Sometimes, you never know who that person might be. It may be someone you already know. It may be someone you haven’t met yet.
Don’t look at what someone is offering with the person inside you who wants to take the best away from you. Look at that person believing that the best of you has yet to appear.
Peter
WOMEN EARN LESS THAN MEN IN RETIREMENT
#WomenInRetirement #EarningsOfWomenVs.Men #jobs #layoffs
During their working years, women tend to earn less than men.
When they retire, women are more likely to live in poverty.
So says an article by Adam Allington of the Associated Press, published in the July 11, 2016, edition of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Women who raised children and cared for the sick and elderly family members often take what savings and income they have and spend it on something other than their own retirement security, Allington writes.
He quotes the National Institute on Retirement Security, which reports that women are 80 percent more likely than men to be impoverished at age 65 and older. Women 75 to 79 are three times more likely, Allington writes.
“I’ve had jobs that included a 401(k) and I was able to put some money aside every month,” Allington quotes Marsha Hall, 60. “But then I would get laid off and have to cash out the 401(k) to have money to live on,” he quotes Hall, who was born and raised in Detroit, is divorced and has no children.
Hall works part time as a file clerk, and she and her siblings chip in to care for their 75-year-old mother, Allington writes.
“If it wasn’t for Section 8 (a housing subsidy), I don’t know where I’d be living,” Allington quotes Hall.
Many men also have undergone a layoff in the last few years. Many families have lost their homes and have had to liquidate some, if not all, of their retirement savings.
Some see themselves scraping together a living via Social Security, part-time or even full-time jobs well into their golden years – presuming they can find those. For many, trying to reproduce the income they had in a job they lost is nearly impossible, as they see it.
Fortunately, there are solutions out there that can produce an income – even a better income than one has ever had – that don’t involve subsidies, or working at a traditional W-2 job in your golden years, and allow a person to help others do the same. For one of the best, message me.
Traditionally, women have borne the brunt of caregiving. They have also, in many cases, had to take off some work time to have children.
Much research has shown that, in general, they have also earned cents on the dollar vs. men.
These phenomena may have put women behind in earnings, thereby putting them behind in terms of retirement savings.
But both men and women are facing what Hall has faced in recent years: layoffs and not being able to replace a lost job with one that yields as good or better income than what was lost.
It’s important for everyone to have a Plan B in case the worst happens. If you have a good job, stay with it and save as much of your income as you can. Invest those savings well, with the help of a trusted adviser. If life forces you to take a break from work, try not to deplete those savings, though that may be easier said than done.
Most of all, make a secure retirement a priority in your life by spending less and saving more.
Peter