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Dear Millennial,
I met two of you the other day. You were in your early 20s and I chatted briefly with you on a ski lift. It was one of those experiences that, although brief, I thought about for several days.
It was a Saturday and the two young men I got paired with offered me a beer. I politely declined and they explained that they wanted to unload their full backpack of beers because the weight of them made boarding less fun. From there, they talked among themselves, and being in a small chair lift, I couldn’t help but listen in.
Here’s how their conversation went:
Guy #1: I’m studying for my series 7 (test for financial planners)
Guy #2: That’s cool. Do you want to work at a big firm?
Guy #1: No, you can’t make enough money.
Guy #2: So what are you going to do?
Guy #1: Start my own firm. I’m not looking at anyone whose net worth is under 400K.
Guy #2: I work for the government and it’s really hard to walk away because I make good money. It’s boring, but I don’t do much and I’ve got good benefits.
At that point, I was lost in thought.
Millennials, you are our next generation. You will take the reins and run our economy and our country. I know guy #1 and guy #2 don’t represent the attitudes of an entire generation, but I have seen these types of attitudes quite a bit in my work. In this case, one of you isn’t motivated, but you stay because the work is easy and the other one of you thinks it’s easy to start from scratch.
You see, I give business advice for a living. And this advice is not designed to discourage you. Far from it – I want you to succeed! But let’s be clear: my advice is designed to give you a roadmap for future success, one that will help you build the career you really want.
First, let’s discuss a better approach.
Start out at a well-established company. By taking a job at a well-established company, your name will be tied to a big name that people recognize. You, in turn, benefit from the reputation and notoriety of that company. I worked at IBM, General Motors and Electronic Data Systems (EDS) and I learned so much during those years. The big company will also give you big name clients to work with that will shine on your resume. You can also learn from those around you by working with others and with any luck, you’ll also find a mentor who can help guide your career. Finally, you can set yourself up for a successful financial future by getting started early on your 401K, paying off your student loans, if you have them, and building savings.
Trust me, working for an established company gets you the experience, mentoring and the overall foundation you need to be successful. You can take the lessons you learned there and start a company when you’re truly ready. Even if you don’t work for a larger company, make sure that the firm you work with gives you at least some of the benefits (and others) as the larger firm.
So what’s so wrong with the approach of these millennials? Let’s focus on guy #1.
First, guy #1 is grossly underestimating how hard it will be to get clients. He should be asking himself if he would let a 23-year-old with no real-world experience manage his assets – all $400,000 or more of them. Second, most people that have those kind of assets will already have a wealth manager and it would be one heck of a challenge to get them to switch! Third, guy #1 won’t have benefits – and those can add up quickly and take away from profits.
My advice, in the end, is as simple as this: You have to earn it man.
Good luck millennials! I wish you well and want to help you succeed!
By Blair Koch
