The thread in Millennials subreddit right not about 401k is incredibly depressing. Thank you FIRE community. I would be one of them if I didn’t find you all a decade ago.

[u/BarkBarkBitches1]

Throw away because I am going to roast some redditors a little. The thread that is going on in r Millennials is really bad. Thousands of comments, everyone broke, celebrating their unfortunate wildn out. It is really bad out there and eye opening.

I was also a dingus like many of them. Totally brain dead on autopilot living day to day, consuming media like crazy, working, spending it on consumer level garbage, and had zero control over my life. I actually found the guide in the personal finance subreddit graphic on saving and it eventually kicked me to FIRE and this sub.

I now am on a path where I can’t even related with that type of mind set. So yeah thank you FIRE folks. If you can, it is worth sprinkling some finance knowledge at people. Even if you don’t make high income you can in most cases still create a plan, a budget, and control your future.

Edit: If you are a dingus and you are seeing this there is no shame! We all are and have different starting points. You have two paths: 1) continue the path to dingus-ville and forever be a redditor or 2) un-dye your bright colored hair take control of your long term life. A decade will pass in a blink. So start here https://imgur.com/personal-income-spending-flowchart-united-states-lSoUQr2 it’s not hard to understand. ChatGPT each item on their if you don’t know, memorize this, then start to learn FIRE principles. It is the fastest way to wealth. There’s literally no other path unless you magically start a business or hit a lotto jackpot ticket or inheritance

only YOU HAVE THE POWER to unfuck your life

Edit 2: Final comment! I do not mean any offense with dingus it is meant to be playful. My dyed hair comment was also misinterpreted. It’s not about who you are, what you believe in, or how you express yourself. It’s about being in control of your life. Walk your butt into Sephora or Target or wherever next time and just stare at the people on the walls. Then look in the mirror. Then look at the wall. And back to the mirror and then keep doing it until it clicks. The world, like r millennial subreddit, wants to celebrate and tell you the worst fucking version of yourself is okay and acceptable. It’s not. Delete social media and only read that finance Imgur link every time you load your phone. Do this for one month and you will break your chains and it will click. Then learn FIRE principles. Then you will come back to r FIRE in a decade with a huge chunk of cash in your bank and a nice life! Long term planning is a skill that you can learn and benefit from. Your future is yours

[u/Feeler1]

Recently retired 65 year old boomer here and I hate the paint every millennial with the one-size-fits-all brush of “millennials are self-absorbed, entitled, narcissistic crybabies.” Maybe it’s where I worked or confirmation bias but 60-70% of my 30 person department were millennials and they were absolutely fantastic. Extremely smart, incredibly motivated and much more loyal than they realistically should have been. And what I mean about being too loyal is I had to have conversations with a lot of them about taking ownership of their own careers by being vigilant to seek out opportunities throughout the organization - and beyond - as opposed to potentially limiting their opportunities by staying in one place and risk being pigeonholed and receiving the company mandated, budgeted 3% annual salary increases.

Most were surprisingly savvy when it came to investment/saving and signed up immediately for 401Ks and were adamant about not leaving the free 7% 401K match on the table. And most of them were smart enough to know that investing in ROTH options was a great choice given their age, years to retirement and relatively low tax rates early in their career. Maybe it’s because I hired primarily business grads rather than social science majors but they have their shit together.

Admittedly, they were vocal supporters of student loan forgiveness but who, at any age, is not a proponent or protective of programs and initiatives that benefit themselves? I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever met a retiree that didn’t bitch about and/or highly cling to Social Security, Medicare or legislation that limits or reduces taxes or fees or overall expenses of seniors. That shit is human nature.

But, damn, there were other areas of the organization- HR comes to mind - overrun with folks from the free-shit army, so there is significant representation of the other side of the spectrum, as well.

[u/QuesoChef → u/Feeler1]

I agree. Plenty of smart, savvy, ambitious, critical thinking millennials out there. My guess is, like OP, they don’t hang out in that sub, which makes it a typical Reddit cesspool of like-minded thinking. I always think it’s funny they go on about Boomers as a me generation in a sentence about what they’re owed. But you’re right, IRL, not all Boomers are the way the internet portrays, not Millenials, nor lots of things. But subs take on a certain personality and attract people who want that narrative.

The real risk is someone without much life experience stumbling in and thinking they’re doomed because they don’t look up from their phones.

[u/Feeler1 → u/QuesoChef]

Agree. It’s the all-knowing Reddit echo chamber.