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Will Millennials Be Ready for the Great Wealth Transfer?

The hyperbolic stereotypes that surround millennials — that they are entitled, pampered, narcissistic and suspicious of anyone besides other millennials — fall apart once you listen to them and do your investment homework. Then you realize that practically from day one of adulthood, a great many millennials have been shoved up against a financial wall.

Take soaring student loan debt. As of June, when the youngest millennials graduated college, it was $37,172. That’s up more than 20 percent from 2012’s $30,000, an astronomical figure in and of itself.

And here’s the bottom-line impact: PwC’s 2016 Employee Financial Wellness Survey found that 42 percent of millennial employees shoulder student loan debt, with 79 percent saying their loans have moderate or significant impact on meeting financial goals. Meanwhile, 63 percent of employees with student loans have saved less than $50,000 for retirement. That’s a long, long way from the $2 million or so they’d need to retire comfortably in 2050.

[See: The Top 10 Investment Portfolio for Millennials.]

You can only imagine what this means for millennials with part-time jobs, low-paying service jobs, or no jobs at all. And yet baby boomers — who some would label the original entitled, pampered, narcissistic generation — are growing old and getting ready to pass on considerable financial resources to their millennial progeny.

Make no mistake: This transfer of wealth will be unprecedented, unlike anything in the last century of American history.

“More than 75 million millennials born between 1981 and 1997 are ready to take over estimated $30 trillion in wealth from baby boomers,” says Christopher Ma, director of the George Investments Institute at Stetson University in DeLand, Florida.

That’s reinforced by AARP statistics, which show that people older than 50 hold 80 percent of America’s household wealth.

Jeff Kelley, senior vice president of Westlake Ohio-based Equity Institutional, puts it like this: “So long Woodstock. Hello Lollapalooza.”

Addressing this transfer of wealth means tremendous opportunities for financial advisors.

“Emphasizing how millennial investors don’t have to go it alone,” Kelley says, “can go a long way.”

Yet other issues abound, particularly when it comes to mistrust of the advisory industry. Older millennials, after all, watched in disbelief as countless investors (including family members) were fleeced by the financial chicanery that spawned Great Recession. Many Americans who’ve since rebuilt their nest eggs may opt for blissful ignorance. They don’t.

“The bottom line is that millennials do not trust conventional financial advisors,” Ma says. “They were all raised in the tech age. They believe everything can be self-taught without human contact.”

To be sure, millennials have fed an explosion in digital robo-advisory tools such as Betterment and Kapitall, a drag-and-drop investment site that resembles a video game interface. And the 2017 FIS Consumer Banking Pace Report found that over a typical 30-day period, 49 percent of millennials used a mobile device to pay a bill, while 46 percent transferred funds between bank accounts.

“Robos woke the industry up to the need of a full on embrace of technology,” says Jack Sharry, executive vice president of strategic development at LifeYield, headquartered in Boston. “For millennials, an easy user experience is table stakes. … We are moving from advisor-led or technology-led to the access to advisors and easy-to-use technology.”

[See: 7 Stocks to Buy for the Baby Boomer Retirement Wave.]

Sharry has a point. Robo tools mark a quantum leap forward. But they don’t offer human advice: a tough sell for those who’d rather text than talk, perhaps, but something millennials crave based on survey after survey.

“Technology may help control costs and achieve diversification, yet only human advisers can appropriately react to changing life circumstances,” says Michaeline Gordon, a trust and estate planning attorney with Chicago-based law firm Ginsberg Jacobs. “A robo advisor isn’t going to respond, for example, to job uncertainty or an illness in a family — or provide a sounding board and objective advice about major life events.”

As for the boomers, quitting the day job may pale in comparison to the big job of getting their millennial children ready.

“Boomers can help prepare their inheritors by initiating the conversation early,” says Chris Wong, CEO of LifeSite in Mountain View, California. “Families can start by taking stock of key information including wills, health insurance cards and policy numbers, in addition to financial investments and account information.”

“For many retirement plan participants, the transfer from contribution to distribution will be the biggest liquidity event of their lives,” says Rick Frisbie, CEO of RobustWealth, a digital wealth management platform in Lambertville, New Jersey. “It’s often on the order of high six figures, even into seven figures, has tax consequences and needs to be used for future income and liability requirements.”

To that end, Frisbie agrees that robo advisors work well in tandem with their human counterparts “by handling, in an automated fashion, the rebalancing requirements of the advisor’s clients to make sure their accounts adhere to asset allocation and income-generating goals.”

Yet in the end, “every family’s situation is unique,” says Jared Feldman, partner at accounting firm Anchin in New York City and co-practice leader of the firm’s private client group. “Some families educate children early on to better inform and prepare them for the responsibilities of great wealth. Others feel that they must protect their young and don’t disclose much information to their children.”

[See: 10 Skills the Best Investors Have.]

“There is no single solution,” Feldman says. “But preparedness is essential in case of any significant life-changing events.”

And so, much will depend upon whether millennials and/or their parents are entitled, pampered and narcissistic — or transcend stereotypes as they gratefully live up to the worth of wealthy types.

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Will Millennials Be Ready for the Great Wealth Transfer? originally appeared on usnews.com

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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