Millennium Generation Studies

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MillenniumGenerationStudies
The Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is a
marketing name for the sales and distribution arm
of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
Company, Milwaukee, WI and its affiliates.
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How do you Compare?

• Who is your dream dinner guest?
• Are you interested in living on another planet,
  e.g., Mars?

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How do you Compare?

• What is your primary media source for news and
  information?
• Hows your financial knowledge?

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Talkin bout My Generation

• Matures . . . . . . . . . . . 1922 - 1945
• Baby Boomers . . . . . . 1945 - 1964
• Generation X . . . . . . 1965 - 1978
• The MillenniumGeneration . . . . . . . . . 1979
  - 2001

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Generational Differences
Boomers Gen X Millennials

• Confident X X X
• Techno-Savvy X X
• Team Oriented X X
• Street Smart X
• Globally Conscious X X
• Diversity X X
• Optimism X X
• Entrepreneurial X X X

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Who are They?

• Second-largest population in U.S. history - 70
  million in all
• Diverse family structure - 1 in 4 21-year-olds
  raised by single parent
• 75 have working mothers
• Ethnically diverse - 30 are minorities

Insurance Advisory Board (1/03) American
Demographics (9/03)
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Why did Northwestern Mutual do this Study?

• College grads are key to our workforce
• 25 of our Financial Representatives started in
  college
• ? of our top 100 Representatives started before
  age 25

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Five Millennium Generation Studies

• 1997 - Class of 2001 as freshmen
• Class of 2001 at graduation
• Post 9-11
• 2002 - one year post-graduation
• 2004 - three years post-graduation with focus on
  2001 Post-Grads and 2004 Seniors

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Eager but Anxious
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Eager but Anxious

• Eager
• to connect with loved ones
• to work in jobs that help others
• to live their life in reliable and responsible
  ways
• Anxious
• due to living in a world in conflict

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World Turned Upside Down

• Extraordinary world events have raised anxiety
• Contradictory self-assessment
• Happy with lives but worry a lot about themselves

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Generational Disadvantages

• Less innocence/growing up faster
• Decay of morals/values

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Rising Concerns in U.S.

• U.S. economy is No. 1 concern
• 62 say the country is headed in wrong direction

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Report Card on Institutions

• As and Bs
• Medicine
• Major Educational Institutions
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Military

• Ds and Fs
• The White House
• News Media
• Organized Religion
• Major Companies

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Struggling with Spirituality

• 75 believe in God
• Number attending church services cut in half from
  1997
• Organized religion gets low marks
• Jesus is 1 dinner guest (again)
• Trend data for this type of questions must be
  interpreted with extreme caution. Significant
  changes in methodology between the first two
  waves and the 2004 wave reported here have an
  unknown impact on responses. Key differences
  include Sampling and Method Effect, which are
  explained in the research report.

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Right or Wrong?

• While most say littering is absolutely wrong,
  only half say the same about
• Exaggerating education/experience on resume
• Not declaring all income to the IRS
• Neutral about
• Taking office supplies
• Telling white lies
• Speeding

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Financial Knowledge Deficit

• More than half admit they have no financial
  knowledge
• 5 feel very knowledgeable
• Parents are biggest influence on finances
• In Debt
• Half have 10,000 in student loans

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Portrait of Health?

• Just within recommended limits of healthy
  behaviors
• some moderate exercise
• less fast food, more veggies
• women in normal BMI range men into overweight
  range
• nearly 1 in 10 regularly smoke

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We vs. Me Generation

• Most important spending time with family and
  friends
• Want more time to spend with others
• Money is not the best measure of success

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Its all about Personality

• Reliable
• Sincere
• Humorous

• Efficient
• Passionate
• Detail-oriented

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Actions Speak Louder

• Half believe children should bear financial costs
  for caring for parents
• less than ? of total population agree
• Credit card is debt low
• Volunteerism is important

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Generational Advantages

• No. 1 Computer-based technologies!
• IMing surge (28 2001 vs. 53 2004)
• Advances in medicine
• Educational opportunities
• Open-mindedness
• Presidential hope for women and minorities

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CareersWhat they Want

• Ready to impact the world!
• Most important
• Work that allows them to help others
• Idealistic and committed co-workers
• Flexible working hours
• Creative work

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Entrepreneurial Flair

• More than half are likely to start own business
• 3 of 2004 Seniors already started own business
• Males more likely to start business vs. females

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CareersWhat they Dont Want

• Leave behind the traditional9-to-5 jobs!
• Least important
• Working for a large corporation
• Working for a global company
• High-pressure work environment

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Jobs in Pursuit 2001 vs. 2004
THEN as 2001 Seniors
NOW as Post-Grads/ 2004 Seniors

• Teaching
• Business/Marketing
• Engineering
• Medicine
• Computers

• Business/marketing
• Computers
• Teaching
• Engineering
• Medicine

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Real World Prep

• Most feel their education prepared them for the
  real world
• Half had at least one internship and it helped

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Job Report 2001 Post-Grads

• ? of Post-Grads found jobs in field
• Some career transitioning
• ½ had one full-time job

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Whats Next for 2004 Grads?

• ? plan to enter workforce immediately
• They are more likely than Class of 2001
  post-grads to
• continue education (50 for 2004 Seniors vs. 34
  for 2001 Grads)
• get married/start family (21 for 2004 Seniors
  vs. 5 for 2001 Grads)

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Historical View of Millennials

• (1997) A Frosh Sense and Sensibility
• (2001) Connected, Career-minded, Confident
• (Post 9-11) Facing Harsh Realities
• (2002) Adjusting to Life in Hard Times
• (2004) Eager but Anxious

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The Whole Picture

• A we generation thats eager but anxious
• Forced to grow up faster
• Distrustful of leadership, pessimistic about the
  direction of the country
• Still eager to go on with life in positive ways

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Balancing Mind and Heart

• Money is no longer the measure of success
• Enthusiastic to connect with others and impact
  the world
• Well-balanced mixture of mind and heart
• Focused on lifes positives but in touch with
  lifes realities

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How to Learn More

• www.generationstudies.com
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• Thank You!