Millennials Reject Survey Findings That Report 1 In 6 Of Them Have $100k In Savings

A survey done in 2018 by the bank of America shows that 16 percent of millennials (or roughly one in six 23 to 37-year olds) have 100,000 dollars or more saved up.

This tweet by CNBC about 1 in 6 millennials having 100,000 dollars in savings…

Unless you’re one of the few financially savvy or incredibly lucky millennials out there, you probably reacted With disbelief much like the rest of the internet. It isn’t uncommon to find millennials, much like other age brackets blame their financial woes on the ailing world economy.

 financial expert Sam Dogen who runs the Financial Samurai blog  had some pretty great insights on how to survive the tough financial times

The internet responded to CNBC’s tweet about the survey’s conclusion with disbelief and a healthy dose of good humor. Some joked about the survey having mixed up the words ‘savings’ and ‘debt,’ others made references to the amount of money having been saved up in The Sims video game.

Internet was quick to respond with mocking responses that made fun of the findings

Financial Samurai founder Dogen  opens by saying, “I absolutely believe more than 1 in 6 millennials should have at least 100,000 dollars or more saved up if they ever want to achieve financial independence and not work at a job they hate for the rest of their lives,” “Based on my 401(k) savings by age guide, you should have the following saved in your pre-tax retirement account by age:

-100,000 – 300,000 dollars by age 30
-250,000 – 1,000,000 dollars by age 40
-600,000 – 2,250,000 dollars by age 50
-1,000,000 – 5,000,000 dollars by age 60.”

“If you want to retire before 60, you need to save even more in online brokerage account and other non-tax advantageous accounts. You can’t withdraw funds from your 401(k) or IRA before 59.5 without a 10% penalty. Here are my after-tax investment amounts by age guide.”

The expert goes on to reinforce the importance of mindset while making financial decisions and saving. “You have to get in the right money mindset. If you are already telling yourself it is impossible to save money, of course, you’re not going to do everything possible to save money. My #1 piece of advice is: if the amount of money you’re saving each month doesn’t hurt, you’re not saving enough.”

He continued about possible ways to earn and save more money: “After you make saving money painful, then you’ve got to take on side hustles to make even more money. Freelancing online, driving a car, assembling furniture, tutoring, mowing lawns are examples of some common side hustles.”

“The absolute bare minimum is to save at least 20 percent of your income after tax each month. If 20 percent feels like a lot, don’t worry. You will get used to living with 80 percent of your income or working other jobs to boost your income,” Financial Samurai said, noting that people are able to adapt to almost any living conditions. “If 20 percent doesn’t feel like enough, it’s imperative you keep ratcheting up your savings rate until you need to make lifestyle changes. Your ultimate goal is to try and achieve a 50 percent savings rate after taxes. Once you get there, every year you work will equal one year of living expenses.”

We all live in a fast-paced world and it’s impossible to give our full attention to every tidbit of information that passes across our noses. That’s why it’s likely that the millennials criticizing the Bank of America report didn’t read the full report or aren’t focusing on the context.

Because having 100,000 dollars in savings was just a tiny part of the report. What’s more, the figure was closer to the actual figures that say 47 percent of American millennials have 15,000 dollars or more in savings.

people explained how hard it was to start saving