Generation Y shies away from investments

By Karl Henkel

khenkel@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Rachael Harvey is like many Americans, trying her best to make it through tough economic times.

The 24-year-old Warren resident has a steady retail job that helps pay her monthly bills, but she wishes she made a little more money — not to spend but to save.

“Right now I’ve got enough to get by,” she said. “But I don’t have that much [money] in the bank.”

It’s a dilemma facing many Americans amid rising inflation and high unemployment rates.

The doom-and-gloom news has Harvey, and many of her fellow millenials — or those in Generation Y — feeling the economic heat.

And according to two recent studies, those born after 1980 are overly negative when it comes to their financial futures.

About 25 percent people ages 20 to 29 rate themselves as financially independent, according to PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.’s recent Financial Independence Survey.

Only about 20 percent think they will have enough money to live comfortably after they retire, which could be more than a half-century from now.

“The pessimism was surprising,” said Dan Deskin, local retail executive at PNC. “I know they face challenging times, but the fact they’re feeling it kind of stood out to me.”

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.