co-authored by Robert Li and Francis Wilson
As members of the first generations to be economically worse off than their parents, young Americans today face a steep path to achieving financial stability. Many are contending with a challenging job market that has yet to fully recover from the aftermath of both the Great Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Moreover, with college tuition growing at a rate vastly outpacing inflation, millennials now owe more and own less than any prior generation. In the face of these circumstances, the American Dream of achieving financial independence and self-sufficiency seems ever more remote.
There is a rising wave of fintech startups that are responding to these challenges by introducing new technologies and business models to help young people pursue financial prosperity. These startups offer cheaper, better, more accessible ways of delivering services to young people in the context of a shifting economic landscape, in a way that incumbent financial institutions have failed. Many fintech startups find themselves not just challenging the dominance of incumbents, but also breaking ground into new niche markets. As millennials ourselves, we decided to write about the startups that are changing the way we think about and manage our personal finances.
This roadmap, to be released in a 4-part series over the next 4 weeks, begins by examining thematic pain points and behavioural trends that reflect the financial challenges that millennials and Gen Z experience, followed by sharing examples of fintech startups whose products are meant to address these pain points and behaviours. Each part of the series corresponds to a facet of financial lifestyle: spending, earning, investing, and making milestone purchases.
You may view each part by clicking on the links below:
[Part 1/4] Spending: Tearing Down the Millennial Wallet
[Part 2/4] Earning: Future of the Paycheck
