Millennials lack important life and financial skills due to deficiencies in education systems. While families are the primary source of advice, many millennials still struggle with basic financial tasks like managing expenses, building credit, and budgeting for student loans. However, they are optimistic and want guidance on bigger topics like saving for retirement and education. Banks have an opportunity to provide relevant advice and establish trust by understanding millennial needs, supporting financial education, and communicating through relatable online resources.

1. Millennials and
Financial Literacy
Kylee Muir, Summer 2016

2. Life skills matter
Values such as self-control, motivation, focus, and resilience are vital attributes
needed to become an independent, successful fully-functioning adult.
So where are people getting these skills?

3. Schools aren’t teaching these skills
When it comes to millennials and younger generations, the educational system
doesn’t teach them the life skills they need to succeed in the long run.*
*New York Times

4. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute my
success in life to the moral, intellectual and
physical education I received from her.”
George Washington

5. Life skills are taught by family
89% of kids see their family members as their primary source of advice
and support. People turn to their families when they have questions,
because they know their loved ones will always be willing to help.

6. But where do they
learn financial skills?
According to a 2014 study, only 30%
of Americans are financially literate,
and most developed countries reflect
similar numbers.

7. Some aren’t trying to learn
Unfortunately, 19% of Millennials say they have never looked for
information about finance anywhere, and women are even less likely than
their male counterparts to have sought out financial information.

8. Some don’t know where to look
Only 37% of Millennials have a financial plan and 52% say they do not
know how they would go about starting to build one. Over half of
Millennials have no one they trust for financial guidance.

9. Schools aren’t teaching
financial skills, either
45 out of 50 states don’t require students to
take any sort of finance classes, leaving them to
develop financial skills elsewhere.
Students probably aren’t getting the financial skills
they need from school, so they turn to other
sources to fill in the gaps.

10. The single biggest source of financial information for
those looking is their families. They trust their parents
know what’s best for them and their situation.
People turn to family first for finance

11. People learn the most about finance from family, online
resources, financial professionals, friends, and their
spouse or partner (in that order).
Then they look to other sources

12. Younger generations favor
social sources
Younger generations are more likely than older generations
to turn to online resources or friends for financial advice.
Millennials are also 1.5x more likely to discuss finances
online and they drive 40% of the conversation about
finance on Facebook. From credit cards to investments,
they crowdfund advice from trusted social media circles.

13. Older generations favor
professional advice
Older generations are more likely to seek financial advice from their
financial advisors compared to younger generations. This is often the
result of a long and trusted relationship with their advisor.

14. Although older generations are more likely than millennials to receive advice
from financial advisors, roughly 60% of Millennials have already received
professional financial advice or would like to.
Most who have received financial advice have gone to advisers at their bank.
Millennials want professional advice, too

15. There’s a misunderstanding
Millennials need advice about living on their
own, paying off student loans, and dealing
with day-to-day finances. However, they’re
looking for advice about saving money for
retirement and education.

16. There are basic things they need to learn
Millennials biggest financial concerns after graduating college are
making enough money to live on their own, being able to make their
student loan payments, being able to manage their day-to-day finances,
paying for grad school, and saving money in an emergency fund.
Many also believe that it’s too hard to build a good credit score and aren’t
sure how a credit score is even calculated.

17. …but they want advice on bigger topics
Millennials are the most optimistic generation when it comes to their finances.
This could be one reason why Millennials are more likely to seek advice about
saving money rather than managing money to pay bills. Retirement and
education are the two biggest priorities for them, despite all of
their bills and expenses.

18. This creates an opportunity for banks
Many don’t realize that a bank can
offer advice for those things, too.

19. What does this mean
And what should banks do about it?

20. Banks could relate to millennial needs
Because millennials don’t realize that they can turn to banks for advice about
their basic financial struggles, banks could benefit from finding ways to
relate to the financial challenges that millennials really struggle with.

21. Reaching younger generations early
To better reach younger generations who aren’t yet
financially literate, financial services providers need
to become an integrated part of the learning process.
This means appealing to the families who are raising
the next generation by offering tools and resources
that allow them to teach their kids about finance.

22. There’s a huge opportunity to push for more financial education in schools,
whether this means supporting legislation or offering to teach courses.
Younger generations turn to online resources for answers more than older
generations do, so it would be wise to offer unbiased financial advice online.
Millennials are wary of financial institutions and will assume that institutions are
trying to sell them something, so to reach them online, share this unbiased
advice through people and platforms they relate to.
Supporting financial literacy education