> Ms. German-Tanner said 20-somethings were often encouraged to take financial steps like build emergency funds, save for retirement and pay off debt. They’re a

> Ms. German-Tanner said 20-somethings were often encouraged to take financial steps like build emergency funds, save for retirement and pay off debt. They’re advised to invest when the market is down and to start thinking about their futures as early as possible. "Build an emergency fund" is basically impossible for a lot of people. I remember hearing that advice. The problem was that food, housing, my car, and related necessary expenses ate up most of my paycheck. Getting rid of cable would have saved a tiny bit of money, made life miserable for me inside my small apartment, and contributed approximately nothing to an emergency fund equal to even one month of income. I knew it would be nice to have more money in savings before anyone told me. > I feel like the older generation is constantly pushing you to do stuff like they did when they were in their 20s, but it’s not even comparable to when they were in their 20s Anyone that says this does not understand what it was like for the older generation. Most of the time if someone is pushing financial advice, they're either trying to sell you something, or they're trying to help you avoid the problems they faced. It was never easy.