The Millennial Generation

The Millennial Generation
by Takara Alexis

The millennial generation is composed of people under the age of 25. They are currently experiencing an unthinkable level of high unemployment. In May of 2010, unemployment for 21-25 year olds was 15.8%. Today, unemployment for those who are college graduates is three times higher than the typical average.

To worsen their situation, 26.9% of the millennials are uninsured. The second most likely age group to be uninsured is made up of 26-34 year olds. Of this age group, 25.9% are uninsured. Together these two age groups display the largest percentage of uninsured in the U.S. The millennials are going through a dramatic rise in student loan debt. For the first time in recent history, outstanding consumer loan debt hit $829 billion, exceeding credit card debt ($826 billion). Student loan debt is also growing faster than credit card debt within the past 90 days.

The millennials debt amount is rising in general as compared to prior generations. Families with heads of households under the age of 35 have the highest leveraged ratio of debt compared to all age groups.

Americans in their early 20s have a particularly short attention span, and this certainly applies to millennials. Their preferred methods of communication include text messaging, social media, and mobile phones. They disregard email communications unless the emails are pushed to their smart phones and even when they are pushed to their smart phones, the millennials will usually not answer emails. They want immediate access to information and immediate responses to their communications.

The millennnials are community-influenced. This means they search for information from their peers before making many choices. And they seek their information almost exclusively online. They are not likely to first seek information from a single source or a traditional authority figure such as a parent, a doctor, or a family friend. Instead they will seek information from social media sources that represent the collective wisdom of many.

This demographic is also highly transient and hard to find. They're more likely to be located by way of their phone than at a permanent residence. Not surprisingly, the millennials are perfectly comfortable being tracked and targeted. But as a consequence, they are extremely protective of their mobile phone number and will go to extraordinary lengths to maintain their mobile phone number over time despite expense or inconvenience.

The constraints presented by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) regarding the use of auto dialers are archaic. The millennials are very much capable of informing the debt collector whether it is convenient for them to receive calls or text messages on their wireless phones as already allowed by the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In short, the consumer should control the decision as to who and how they may be contacted on their wireless phone/computer instead of the government and the law needs to catch up with technology.

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Estate Planning: Gifting

Estate Planning: Gifting
by Takara Alexis

If you're like most Americans, you like to give gifts nearly as much as you like to receive them. Luckily, if you're serious about estate planning there is a helpful technique called gifting that can potentially save your family, friends and heirs a lot of cash on estate taxes in the future.

Gifting is exactly what it sounds like: a gift. It's a gift that can be given to a spouse, a family member or a friend. It's a technique that has been used commonly by people to reduce the value of their estate and can be done in different ways.

Every person in the U.S. can give assets or property of up to $12,000 a year. That amount applies to each individual they gift to. This gift can be given to pretty much anyone without paying any gift taxes, as long as the amount gifted stays under the limit. You are able to give gifts, tax-free, to as many people as you wish. You can also gift an unlimited amount of property to charity and your spouse.

By law, you can gift a spouse unlimited amounts of property each year without paying any taxes. This isn't something that is suggested however, because it just moves the larger estate burden onto your spouse. One helpful technique is to team up with your spouse and gift to specific individuals, such as children and grandchildren. When you and a spouse get together and gift, which the IRS has termed "gift splitting," you can give up to $24,000 to each individual without paying any gift tax. This allows you to quickly reduce your estate by a large amount.

Gifting is also a really good way to give assets to your family that will end up appreciating in value. That way, you not only reduce the amount that may be taxed in your estate, but you lower the amount that your asset would have grown to by the time you passed away.

While estate planning is often put off because of the uncomfortable topic of death, it may be one of the most important financial planning tools available. It might also be one of the most crucial ways to save your family from heartache. In the end, gifting allows you to take advantage of tax savings and choose the way you want to be remembered, which is truly a gift that will keep on giving.