Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook from RABT, free of charge, for review purposes on this blog. No compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it, all opinions are my own
Finance/Economics
Date Published: September 22
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Synopsis:
Alexander Baima graduated college with $80,000 in student debt at the age
of 23 from one of the top 25 business schools in America. After college he
went to work as a financial planner and serviced fortune 500 clients. He
created the financial plans that brokers took credit for, and while they
grossed millions a year, he made minimum wage.
At 29, his parents had a house with an $80,000 mortgage and a child –
and they lived on one income. At 29, Alexander still had over $50,000 in
student debt. How could previous generations have so much more than most
millennials who still struggle with little hope for the Young, Broke and Educated investigates the decline of purchasing power
among young people, especially over the last generation. It explores in
basic, easy to understand terms, how economic systems have evolved to hinder
the financial success of millennials and the incentives that government, big
business and banks have to prevent progressive change.
Alexander Baima, a master in the field of eCommerce and early adopter of
blockchain technology, walks you through, step-by-step, what the issues are
and what needs to change to ensure that millennials and future generations
have access to the same type of success that previous generations took for
granted.
Book Excerpt:
For the last 150 years or so, parents of each generation have had the simple goal of providing a better
quality of life for their children than they experienced. The millennials are the first generation in this
modern era in which the majority of Americans expect they will have a lower quality of life than the
generation that preceded them.
Suicide has surged to the highest level in nearly 30 years, and between 1988 and 2008, America experienced a 400 percent increase in the use of antidepressants. Children are now being raised in daycare, by strangers, and by their electronic devices more than by their actual parents.In an age where young people experience being “triggered” and needing “safe spaces,” and when century old confederate monuments are now being branded as hateful and being torn down, someone has to ask, What on earth is going on?
I grew up in what most would call an upper middle class family. When I was young, both my father and mother worked fulltime jobs, and then later, my father became the sole income provider. Every year my parents and grandparents would go on lavish vacations to exotic destinations where they would spend a week enjoying an amazing experience. Almost weekly, my parents would dine at high quality restaurants, buy expensive jewelry and live a relatively grandiose lifestyle. I was programmed along with millions of other millennials that if I went to college and worked hard, this would be my life too. Six years removed from college at the age of 29, I had never been on a vacation, and I still considered In and Out a high quality dining establishment. When my parents were 29, they already owned their first house.
Unfortunately, in most discussions about generations, many of us receive only the viewpoints of older people who are generally more financially established and are the primary consumers of luxury services in America. Business owners and the media are more prone to represent only these consumers, limiting their focus on their most profitable customers. When you see millennials getting upset about the unequal distribution of wealth, this is one of the reasons why. I aim to provide a view from their side.
I graduated college in 2012 with a four-year liberal arts degree in business administration from what was said to be one of the top 25 business schools in America. Truth was, I never wanted to go to college, but like many young people in America, I endured significant pressure from just about everyone. How many times in your life have you seen a TV commercial telling you not to go to college? Like many, I was told that if I didn’t get a college degree, I would never amount to much of anything. The plan was that I would go to college, make tons of money, and live happily ever after in a mansion overlooking the beach. At least, this was what the commercials, the college itself, and my parents suggested would be the reality.
Book review:
This is one of those books that you'll either really learn a lot from and take the theories to heart, or it could aggravate you as part of the social clime that's going on right now.
The author does a good job in presenting the information about how economics, inflation and other factors, have created a potential volcano, that millennials and gen z may not be able to overcome. However there's always two sides to the coin, and I feel like there are people who are doing well in the economy who have gone against his ideas.They have come up with brilliant ideas, based on current needs, and are doing well. I'm not talking about media influencers, but those that actually have come up with a product that can lead them into inventing other products etc. So to say that there's no way Millennials or Gen Z can get ahead, and have with their parents had, is really a misnomer, because some can. Nor do I believe as the author spends a whole chapter on that socialism is the answer. You only have to talk to those in other countries, that have socialism, to realize that the grass is not always greener,even though it may seem so at first glance.
Personally I think it has more to do with a greater tendency to want things easy, and to not have to strive for things. For example, my generation knew that we may have to have four roommates for a while, just to be able to have our own place. We were willing to give up things like 130 TV channels or a fancy pool in the backyard. However Millennials and Gen Zers in my experience, want their creature comforts, and aren't as willing to give them up as we were. Is that part of the problem? A lack of willingness to give up on extras, in order to get the ultimate goal? Maybe, maybe not. But those that I've seen do so, have been able to buy their own homes and go on great vacations, and achieve the dreams of prior generations.
There's always two sides to any equation, and it's always good to check out the other side. There is some ballot information in this book but I don't think it really provides an answer, as most of the possibilities presented all have their own issues. Maybe a starting place to think? Maybe. You'll just have to read it and make up your own mind.
Alexander Baima received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of San Diego. By profession, he has excelled as both an analyst and project manager. He currently holds a CAPM, MOS and SSGB certification in the field of project management. Alex is a talented entrepreneur who specializes in 19th and 20th century porcelain as well as modern innovative computing.
Alex is a firm supporter of Cryptocurrency and believes that this technology will revolutionize the way all countries function within a matter of a few years. He is currently invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum and EOS with the expectations that decentralized applications and smart contracts will be a major contributor to our future. He has published over 150 articles between LinkedIn and a new social media platform called Steemit. As a millennial, his desire is to help solve many of the great challenges that are plaguing today’s society and engage in intellectual exchanges to help create a better world.Contact Links: Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram and Linkedin
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