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More than 34,000 people have left public comments on the Biden administration’s new student loan forgiveness proposal.
Here’s what some of them said.

US President Joe Biden gestures after speaking about student loan debt relief at Madison Area Technical College in Madison, Wisconsin, April 8, 2024. 
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

‘I plan on dying with student loan debt’

“I think this is a great idea. I am 52 years old with a lot of student loan debt from years ago. It has quadrupled from what I actually borrowed. I think the interest is ridiculous. With the crazy inflation, how can anyone afford to pay for anything these days? I plan on dying with student loan debt. It is very depressing.”

‘An unjust burden on Americans’

“I call on the Biden administration to stop imposing an unjust burden on Americans who did not go to college or have paid off their student loan debt with yet another unfair plan to carry out massive student loan debt cancellation.
The president will take hundreds of billions of dollars in taxes from hardworking Americans, millions of whom never went to college, to pay for this new student loan cancellation plan. These taxpayers will be forced to pay for the degrees of those who did attend college, including doctors and lawyers who have every ability to pay their debts.
If students want to attend college, then they should work for companies that provide educational assistance. That’s how I attended college and got my BA and MS. The only way people appreciate what they have is if THEY BUST THEIR BUNS EARNING IT.”

‘People will remember who made their lives easier’

“Not only will forgiving all the debt make individuals’ lives easier, but they’ll be able to spend more money in their local economies, which benefits small business[es] and the community as a whole. And at election time, people will remember who made their lives easier.”

‘Rectifying long-standing inequities’

“As an African American millennial from River Rouge, MI, I believe it is crucial to support and approve student loan debt relief proposals. Our community faces distinct generational disparities that necessitate such measures. Historically, African Americans have had limited access to generational wealth. This gap makes it necessary for many of us to rely on financial aid … to pursue higher education.
Despite achieving success in our careers, the heavy yoke of student debt often means we are starting several paces behind, continuously trying to catch up. This reality hinders not only individual financial growth but also our collective ability to invest in our communities.
Approving student loan debt relief is more than a financial reprieve; it is a step towards rectifying long-standing inequities, centuries of compounded interest and empowering a significant segment of our society to achieve true economic participation and security.”

Biden ‘attempting to purchase votes’

“I paid for my undergraduate degree by working throughout my high school and college career. I worked overtime and three part-time jobs when I pursued a graduate degree. College is a personal choice that comes with many adult decisions. There are trade-offs.
It was my choice to go to college and graduate school. Nobody helped me. I earned every credit the hard way.
It is not the federal government’s responsibility to pass those personal decisions off onto our country’s taxpayers. This feels like President Biden and the Democrats are simply attempting to ‘purchase’ votes in a presidential election year.”

‘The sooner the better’

“My generation, especially those of us who came from poor factory families and blue collar workers, were told to go to college, no matter what. We were told that college was our way out, our path to the American Dream. It has become an American Nightmare as we try to navigate Byzantine repayment programs, waiting on hold for hours to try and get a person on the phone at our servicer, and do everything in our power to help our children avoid student debt, no matter the cost.Student loan debt accounts for a huge chunk of my family of 4’s total debt load. We have a mortgage, a car note, and student loans. We do not have credit card debt.
These proposed rule changes will be a huge relief to our family, and the sooner the better.”

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An improving economy has helped modestly improve the outlook for Social Security’s funds.
But experts say the outlook for the program still points to the need for imminent reform.

Phoenix Wang | Moment | Getty Images

A new Social Security trustees report released on Monday provides a modest bright spot for the program.
The program’s combined funds are now projected to run out in 2035 — one year later than was previously anticipated. At that time, 83% of benefits will be payable, unless Congress takes action before that date to prevent an across-the-board benefit cut.

The later projected depletion date is due to an improved economy, according to the trustees report. That includes higher labor productivity that enables workers to contribute to the program through payroll taxes.
But experts say that’s where the good news ends, and the revelations from the trustees’ report point to the need for congressional action.
“Unless something changes more of the economy rapidly or dramatically, we’re going to have trust fund depletion in the next 10 years,” Jason Fichtner, chief economist at the Bipartisan Policy Center said during a Tuesday panel hosted by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The trust fund shortfall may be addressed through tax increases, benefit cuts or by taking funds from general revenues, he said.
While the national debt is $34 trillion, Social Security’s unfunded liability is around $22 trillion, Fichtner said. To make the program solvent for 75 years, an upfront sum of $22 trillion would be necessary today.

“That’s a lot of borrowing,” he said.
The longer lawmakers wait, the larger the changes that will be necessary.
Because it is an election year, there likely won’t be action now, said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, in an interview. But Social Security is poised to be an issue in the upcoming House, Senate and presidential campaigns, he said.
Here are some key revelations to note from this year’s Social Security trustees report.
1. Retirement fund depletion date is less than a decade away
While the overall outlook for Social Security’s trust funds improved, the depletion date for the fund used to pay retirement benefits remains unchanged.
In 2033, that fund will be depleted, at which point 79% of benefits will be payable.
As that depletion date gets closer — with it now just nine years away — there are fewer factors that could change that forecast, Fichtner said.
2.  Disability fund is in good shape — for now
A separate trust fund used to pay disability benefits should be able to pay full benefits through 2098 — the last year of the report’s projection period.
The good news is that points to fewer disability benefits being paid from that trust fund, Social Security expert Laura Haltzel, a former research manager at Congressional Research Service, noted during the webinar. Because those individuals are still in the work force, it means they are continuing to contribute to the program, she said.
But that fund is “very, very sensitive to economic conditions,” Fichtner said.
If there is a major recession, many workers who are at the margin may apply for disability benefits, he said. That may affect that trust fund’s solvency.
“I don’t think we should say that [disability insurance] is fine and we’re out in the woods,” Fichtner said. “We need to keep an eye on it.”

3. The insolvency projection has not shifted  
Since 2012, Social Security’s trustees have predicted the insolvency date would be between 2033 and 2035.
As the new trustees’ report projects the combined funds may last to 2035, that has not changed, Haltzel noted.
“The actuarial deficit really has not shifted that much,” Haltzel said.
4.  A declining birth rate may impact the program
Social Security’s trustees have revised the total fertility rate assumption to 1.9 children per woman, down from 2.0, which is the lowest that has ever been assumed, senior Treasury officials noted.
The birth rate is an important part of long-term projections, Linda K. Stone, senior retirement fellow at the American Academy of Actuaries, said in an interview with CNBC.
“It’s going to take 20 years, 18 years for the children being born now to actually be workers and paying taxes into the system,” Stone said.
5.  Immigration may help give the program a boost
Immigration may help bring in more workers to help pay taxes into the program.
“Immigration absolutely can and should be part of what the solution is,” Haltzel said.
Legal immigration is preferred, she said, but the effects of illegal immigration on the program are frequently misunderstood.
Many illegal immigrants tend to adopt a false Social Security number, she said. While they pay into the program through payroll taxes, they are ineligible to actually claim benefits.
“We actually end up benefiting in a very unfortunate way from illegal immigration,” she said.
Immigrants may also have a higher birth rate, Stone said.
“That’s more future workers also entering the system,” she said.
6.  More dramatic changes will be necessary with time
As lawmakers procrastinate when it comes to addressing Social Security, the solutions needed to address the program get more dramatic.
During President Barack Obama’s presidency, eliminating the maximum threshold on taxable earnings would have restored the program’s 75-year solvency, said Fichtner.
Now, a combination of changes would be needed to get the same results. One suggestion that often comes up is raising the retirement age.
“We’ve lost our ‘one and done’ policy options,” Fichtner said.
On Capitol Hill, Social Security tends to become a partisan battle, Richtman said. But most Americans want to see the benefits they’ve earned preserved.
Voters should ask candidates where they stand on the issue, Richtman said.
“Everybody’s for Social Security in theory. But what are your positions on making sure that it continues and is improved?” Richtman said. “That’s the real question.” More

YOUR GUIDE TO NAVIGATING YOUR FINANCIAL FUTURE

No one — not even professional investors, with all the resources behind them — knows for sure how any individual stock will perform going forward.  
There are ways to mitigate the risk of striking out with any one individual stock: Buy many stocks or even the whole stock market.
It’s the same idea as buying whole sets of baseball cards to get that one future All-Star.

DETROIT, MI – APRIL 29: A fan trades a baseball card on the trade wall during the 2023 Topps Truck Tour promotion outside of Comerica Park during game one of a doubleheader between the Baltimore Orioles and the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on April 29, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Orioles 7-4. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Mark Cunningham | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

When I was a kid, I collected baseball cards with the money I earned from mowing lawns. It was fun to open a pack of cards not knowing which ones you’d get. I sometimes bought a bunch of cards of a particular rookie, in hopes he would one day become an All-Star. Most of the time, however, I ended up striking out. I learned the only way to make sure that you owned a future star was to diversify by buying every card in the set.  
There are parallels to investing.

Many folks try to find the next Amazon or Nvidia. But let’s face it, no one — not even professional investors, with all the resources behind them — knows for sure how any individual stock will perform going forward.  

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Here’s a look at more stories on how to manage, grow and protect your money for the years ahead.

But there are ways to mitigate the risk of striking out with any one individual stock — buy many stocks or even the whole stock market. It’s the same idea as buying whole sets of baseball cards to get that one future All-Star. Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard, used a different analogy to convey the same idea: “Don’t try to find the needle, buy the haystack.”
By haystack, he was talking about buying the entire stock market through a broad-based index fund instead of trying to find those few winning individual stocks. However, some may argue that just a handful of stocks have a disproportionate weighting in the index, so a U.S. equity index fund may not be as diversified as you may think.

The roster of stars keeps changing

Over the years, pundits have come up with interesting names to describe the largest or most-coveted stocks, such as the Nifty Fifty, FAANG and the Magnificent Seven. The latter, as of year-end 2023, were the most valuable U.S. companies, making up more than a quarter of the S&P 500 Index’s market capitalization. True, some of today’s winners will end up being tomorrow’s losers, but many will continue to become tomorrow’s winners as well. And some modest-size stocks will grow into behemoths.
For example, Apple, Microsoft and Google were among the five largest U.S. stocks in March 2014 and they remain so 10 years later. Exxon Mobil and Berkshire Hathaway rounded out the top five in March 2014, but were replaced by Amazon and Nvidia. Back then, Amazon was worth roughly $150 billion, while Nvidia was valued at a relatively modest $10 billion. Both stocks were included in broadly diversified U.S. stock indexes in 2014 and grew into top-five stocks today.

You never know which names will be the future All-Stars 10 years from now, so diversification is key. And diversification can be gained across three levels:
Diversify within each asset class. As mentioned, the easiest means of diversification is through a broad-based index fund or ETF. However, you do not have to stick strictly with index funds. If you go with actively managed funds to complement a core holding of index funds, make sure that your collective portfolio is adequately diversified and keep your costs like expense ratios and other fees low.
Diversify across asset classes. Diversifying across equities, bonds and cash further reduces risk. Make sure your allocation is appropriate for your time horizon, risk tolerance, and financial goals.
Diversify across time. In most cases, investing in a lump sum leads to higher returns. On the other hand, while dollar-cost averaging — regularly investing a fixed amount over time — doesn’t guarantee a profit or protect against a market downturn, it does mitigate the risk of bad market timing. And if you set it up as automated investments, it has the added benefit of being a set-it-and-forget-it approach. As time passes, regularly revisit your plan to make sure it still matches your current circumstances. Life happens, things change and so can your target allocation.
I’ll state the obvious: All investing is subject to risk, including possible loss of principal. Diversification does not ensure a profit or protect against a loss; and no particular asset allocation can guarantee you will meet your goals.
That said, if you diversify, you’ll have some share of the potential All-Stars in your investment lineup.
— By James Martielli, head of investment and trading services at Vanguard. More

Some college students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have faced disciplinary action in recent weeks, including being suspended or expelled.
The consequences of these temporary or permanent bans from campus “may also involve financial setbacks,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz.
Those include the loss of scholarships, previously paid tuition, and access to meal plans and even housing.

Pro-Palestine protesters on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus lock arms after several demonstrators knocked fences down and reopened an encampment. Rallies and protest camps persist at MIT as student demonstrators demand divestment from Israeli military ties. President Sally Kornbluth set a deadline for encampment removal by May 6, 2024, threatening suspension.
Vincent Ricci | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Some college students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza have faced disciplinary action in recent weeks, with universities handing down suspensions and expulsions.
The consequences of these temporary or permanent bans from campus “may also involve financial setbacks,” said higher education expert Mark Kantrowitz. Depending on the college and disciplinary action taken, those can include the loss of scholarships, previously paid tuition, and access to meal plans and even on-campus housing.

“Students who are suspended do not get tuition refunds,” Kantrowitz said.
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More than 100 students have been suspended across the U.S. in recent weeks, according to Kantrowitz, who made a rough calculation from news reports. The real number is likely much higher, but a federal regulation curbs how much colleges can publicly disclose about student suspensions.
The protests emerged in response to Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which it launched after a Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that Israel says killed 1,200 people. Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Gaza have killed more than 34,000 people, including more than 14,000 children, according to local officials and the United Nations.
Here’s what to know about the financial risks for suspended and expelled student protesters.

Students can lose housing and more

According to an email reviewed by CNBC from Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Sally Kornbluth to the MIT community on Monday, students in encampments were notified they could face a range of punishments, from a written warning to an “immediate interim full suspension.” The email says those consequences depended on factors such as whether the students agreed to voluntarily leave the encampment on Kresge Lawn and whether they already had a pending case or sanction on their record from the campus discipline committee.
Those who are handed the harsher penalty will not be allowed to reside in their assigned residence hall or to use MIT dining halls, although they will continue to have access to health services, the email said.
MIT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“It’s devastating for students who are denied those basic services,” said Martin Stolar, a lawyer in New York who has defended protesters for decades.
Beyond the risk of losing their housing, suspended college students across the country may not be able to complete their courses and get credit for them, Kantrowitz said, and likely won’t receive tuition refunds.

It’s devastating for students who are denied those basic services.

Martin Stolar
a lawyer in New York

It’s uncertain whether suspended or expelled students will be refunded any leftover money on their meal plans, he said.
“Some colleges issue a refund of leftover balances when a student is no longer at the college, whether due to graduation, expulsion or some other reason,” he said. “Some colleges roll over the credit balance to the next year. Other colleges do neither, so the student loses the balance.”

Charges of disruption, vandalism

In recent weeks, students have been disciplined on charges that they maintained unauthorized encampments that disrupt college life and infringe on the rights of their fellow students. Some students are facing allegations of vandalism and destruction of property.
“There is a dire humanitarian crisis occurring in Gaza that must be addressed, and I am personally grief-stricken by the suffering and loss of innocent lives occurring on both sides of this conflict,” George Washington University President Ellen Granberg wrote in a statement on Sunday.
“However, what is currently happening at GW is not a peaceful protest protected by the First Amendment or our university’s policies,” she said. “The demonstration, like many around the country, has grown into what can only be classified as an illegal and potentially dangerous occupation of GW property.”

But there’s disagreement over when protesters overstep their rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana filed a lawsuit against Indiana University this month, accusing the college of violating the First Amendment rights of three plaintiffs facing a 1-year ban from campus for their participation in the political protests, including a tenured professor.
A spokesperson from Indiana University said it does not comment on pending litigation.

Federal loan bills could come earlier

Suspended or expelled students may also get their federal student loan bills sooner than they expected, Kantrowitz said.
“Generally, if a student drops below half-time enrollment for at least six months, their student loans will enter repayment,” he said.
Those who can’t make their payments have the option of putting their loans into deferment or forbearance, he added. However, pausing loan payments can cause interest to accrue and borrowers’ balances to grow.
If a suspension ends and a student returns to college before six months, their grace period should reset, Kantrowitz said.
The U.S. Department of Education did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how it was notifying student protesters of any financial impacts, including the possibility of an early start to their loan payments.

It’s possible that a suspension or expulsion will be marked on a student’s transcript, which could make it harder for them to transfer to other colleges, get into a graduate school and land jobs, Kantrowitz said.
However, this particular disciplinary action might not be looked at the same way as other academic or conduct charges, Stolar said.
“We’re talking about people involved in protest activity, which is very different than something on your permanent record saying that you cheated on an exam or assaulted another student,” he said.

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Married couples can shield up to $500,000 in home sale profits from capital gains, and single filers can exempt up to $250,000.
In 2023, nearly 8% of U.S. home sales yielded profits exceeding $500,000, compared with about 3% in 2019, according to a new report.
If your home sale profit exceeds the limit, you can reduce it by adding to the “basis” or original purchase price with capital improvements.

The Good Brigade | Digitalvision | Getty Images

More Americans are paying capital gains taxes on home sale profits amid soaring property values — but there are ways to reduce your bill, experts say.
In 2023, nearly 8% of U.S. home sales yielded profits exceeding $500,000, compared with about 3% in 2019, according to an April report from real estate data firm CoreLogic.

There’s a reason the report called out that threshold.
It’s key for a special tax break for homeowners who make a profit when selling a primary residence. Married couples filing together can make up to $500,000 on the sale without owing capital gains taxes. The threshold for single filers is $250,000.
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Those capital gains exemption thresholds haven’t been indexed for inflation since 1997, said certified financial planner Jaime Quinones with Stockade Wealth Management in Marlboro, New Jersey.
“With the recent rise in home values, more sellers have been facing a capital gains tax hit,” Quinones said.

Home sale profits above the $250,000 or $500,000 thresholds incur capital gains taxes of 0%, 15% or 20%, depending on your income.
Capital gains taxes on a home sale are more common in high-cost areas. In 2023, the percentage of home sales that had profits exceeding $500,000 hit double digits in Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Washington, the CoreLogic report found.

How to qualify for the capital gains exemption

The IRS has strict rules for qualifying for the $250,000 or $500,000 capital gains exemption, according to the IRS. To that point, you must own the home for at least two of the past five years before your home sale to satisfy the “ownership test.”
The “residence test” says the home must be your primary residence for any 24 months of the five years before the sale, with some exceptions. The 24 months don’t need to be consecutive.

How to reduce your capital gains tax bill

If you’ve lived in a home long enough to exceed the capital gains exemptions, there’s a “high probability” you’ve made improvements to the home, said Falls Church, Virginia-based CFP Parker Trasborg, senior financial advisor at CJM Wealth Advisers.
You can use those improvements to increase your home’s “basis,” or original purchase price, which reduces your profit, he said.
But routine maintenance and repairs don’t count. For example, you can increase your home’s basis by adding the cost of a new roof or addition. But fixes to leaky pipes won’t qualify.
After selling a home, the IRS receives Form 1099-S, which shows your closing date and gross proceeds. But you’ll need paperwork to prove any changes to your home’s basis in the case of an IRS audit.

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True to its name, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage spreads out repayment over 30 years, with an interest rate that remains the same for the life of the loan. 
It’s “a uniquely American construct,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.

monkeybusinessimages | Getty

Most U.S. homebuyers taking out a mortgage opt for a 30-year fixed-rate option — but they may not realize how unusual that offering is.
“The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is a uniquely American construct,” said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst for Bankrate.

True to its name, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage spreads out repayment over 30 years, with an interest rate that remains the same for the life of the loan. 
As long as you do not refinance or sell your house, the rate you get at the start of your mortgage won’t change, said Jacob Channel, a senior economist at LendingTree. “You’ll have the exact same rate, regardless of what the broader market is doing,” Channel said.
In 2022, 89% of homebuyers applied for a 30-year mortgage, according to government data analyzed by Homebuyer.com.
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The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage can exist in the U.S. due to the country’s deep financial markets, experts say.

“If we did not have the dominance of the fixed-rate mortgage in the U.S. residential mortgage market, we would see a much higher level of stress among existing homeowners,” McBride said.

The ‘whole reason’ for the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage

The secondary market for mortgage-backed securities in the U.S. is the “whole reason” for the existence of the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, McBride explained.
About half of all mortgages originated in the U.S. will end up packaged into a mortgage-backed security and sold to bond investors, he said.
While mortgage-backed securities were at the heart of the financial crisis and Great Recession, improvements have been made to avoid the risk. Lenders, for example, strengthened mortgage origination processes and improved underwriting standards and collateral assessment, and there are now other guardrails that did not exist over a decade ago.
Mortgage-backed securities are attractive to investors in the U.S. and across the globe because their government sponsorship makes them safe investments over long periods of time. They also provide a fixed payout, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin, a real estate brokerage site.
The rate on the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage tracks closely to 10-year Treasurys because “U.S. real estate is almost as good an investment as a U.S. Treasury bond,” she said.

However, mortgage-backed securities are “only part of the story,” according to Enrique Martínez García, an economic policy advisor of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.
“There are two institutions in the U.S. mortgage market that are very specific to the U.S.: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” Martínez García said.
The insurance Fannie and Freddie provide is essential to why lenders are willing to take on the risk associated with interest rate movements, Martínez García explained.
“In most other countries, [that risk] gets passed through to the households, the buyers,” he said.
Even in countries where fixed-rate mortgages are prevalent, they usually span shorter periods of time. That’s because such countries lack both the path toward securitization and institutions that take on the long-term risk, Martínez García said.
“That’s what’s missing in many other countries,” he said.

Foreign homebuyers typically get variable rates

While homebuyers in other countries can typically get long-term mortgages or fixed-rate loans, the U.S. is unusual in its combination of those attributes.
In Canada, for example, homeowners might get a mortgage that spans 25 years, but they are expected to refinance every five years or so, Channel said.
In the U.K., homeowners might get fixed-rate mortgages, but such loans only span up to five years.
“Every few years, you’re nonetheless doing something that causes your rate to change,” Channel said. 
The difference between fixed-rate and variable mortgage rates lies in who bears the risk of fluctuating rates, Martínez García said. With fixed-rate loans, financial institutions bear the risk. With variable-rate loans, consumers do.

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Studies show a disconnect between how much adult children expect to inherit and how much their aging parents plan on leaving them.
Longer life expectancies, rising healthcare costs, growing financial insecurity and changing views about inheritance are all partly responsible.

There’s a massive wealth transfer underway.
“It has started and it’s only going to accelerate,” said Liz Koehler, head of advisor engagement for BlackRock’s wealth advisory business.

Baby boomers are set to pass more than $68 trillion on to their children. And yet, some millennials and Generation Z may not be inheriting as much as they think.
Recent reports show a growing disconnect between how much the next generation expects to receive in the “great wealth transfer” and how much their aging parents plan on leaving them.
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To that point, 68%, of millennials and Gen Zers have received or expect to receive an inheritance of nearly $320,000, on average, USA Today Blueprint found. Additionally, 52% of millennials think they’ll get even more — at least $350,000 — according to a separate survey by Alliant Credit Union.
However, 55% of baby boomers who plan to leave behind an inheritance said they will pass on less than $250,000, Alliant found.

Further, just one-third of white families and about one in every 10 Black families receive any inheritance at all, and more than half of those inheritances will amount to less than $50,000, according to a separate study by Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
Part of the discrepancy is because “parents are just not communicating well with their adult children about financial topics,” said Isabel Barrow, director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.
Tack on inflation, high healthcare costs and longer life expectancies, and boomers suddenly may be feeling less secure about their financial standing — and less generous when it comes to giving money away.
Overall, fewer Americans are feeling financially confident these days, a report by Edelman Financial Engines found, and just 14% would consider themselves wealthy.

Millennials may be ‘richest generation in history’

Still, over the next decade this intergenerational transfer could make millennials “the richest generation in history,” according to the annual Wealth Report by global real estate consultancy Knight Frank.
These funds come at a time when millennials and Gen Zers are having a harder time making it on their own.
In addition to soaring food and housing costs, today’s young adults face other financial challenges their parents did not at that age. Not only are their wages lower than their parents’ earnings when they were in their 20s and 30s, after adjusting for inflation, but they are also carrying larger student loan balances, recent reports show.
With so much at stake, “there is so much missing that needs to be discussed with our adult children when it comes to what happens with our money,” Barrow said.

Boomers need to map out a plan

At the same time, views of inherited wealth are changing, according to BlackRock’s Koehler. Parents want to feel confident that the next generation is going to have the same value system around building wealth.
“Firms and advisors who are doing this well are finding ways to open up the conversation so it is clear and transparent and setting common family values and expectations around philanthropic endeavors,” she said.
The failure to create such a strategy is a major issue, the Edelman report found: 90% of parents intend to leave an inheritance to their children but 48% do not have a specific plan in place.
That makes it even more important to map out how that money will be handed down as well as exactly how much will change hands, Barrow said, in addition to discussing it as a family.
“It’s not only what are you getting but how you are getting it — all of this needs to be part of a big-picture financial plan,” she said.
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Entry-level jobs are typically thought of as positions requiring little to no prior experience or skills. But it’s a longstanding gripe among job seekers on social media that job listings’ requirements are more ambitious.
“When you apply for an entry level marketing job and they ask for: 2+ years of experience, a degree, experiences in graphic design, SEO, copywriting and a viral TikTok account on the side,” one TikTok user offered as an example.

“Companies listing ‘Masters preferred’ for entry level office positions,” posted another.
There’s truth to the meme.
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Almost half (42%) of employees said they felt excluded from job opportunities due to a lack of formal qualifications or experience, according to a 2023 report from TestGorilla. In a 2022 report from McKinsey & Company, the second-most-cited barrier to employment was a lack of experience, relevant skills, credentials or education.
“There has been a shift over the past few years towards skills-based hiring, with employers far more concerned about employees’ experience and skills than even their degrees,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.

That shows up in hiring trends. Less than 61% of human resources leaders said in 2023 that they are hiring for entry-level and less-specialized positions, down from 79% in 2022, according to a PwC survey.

One of the biggest barriers at play is a gap in skills and training. But for many workers, getting training on the job has been tricky.
Employers are “not developing talent internally,” said Peter Cappelli, a professor of management with the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “They’re looking outside to hire people rather than to promote them from within.”
To build skills, job seekers could enroll in one of the growing number of “cheap, affordable, convenient and accessible online training programs, many of which have a large practical component,” Pollak suggests. Freelance work, or volunteer or internship experiences can also provide opportunities to gain credentials and experience.
Watch the video above to learn more about why job requirements have become increasingly demanding and how to prepare for the workforce. More