Millennials are now old! Those born between 1981 are about to hit 40 years in a couple of years and that is the age when they thought they will retire! Of course except those in the movies, or sports none of them can be serious about retirement. Well not in a while – unless of course they have inherited a house (most of them have), and have done well with their Esop…or are about to inherit their parent’s esop. A caveat: Parents are likely to live till 100 years, so guys don’t count your chicken YET.

The millennial is often blamed for not being committed, not taking care of their health, too much partying, not saving/investing enough. Hello, wait, don’t be in a hurry. I know enough millennials who have been led to poor investing by their PARENTS. MY generation is what I am talking about. Advice like “Invest in Endowment plans” or “Your money is safe in SBI ulips or UTI mutual funds because they are PSU funds/ insurance companies. Lol. Idiots of our generation, have continued to give idiotic advise. If you are a MILLENNIAL please post saying which is the WORST INVESTMENT advice you have received. If you are above 50 please tell me which is the worst advice you got and what is the worst advice you GAVE? COME on, be truthful.

I will not be quick to criticize millennials or compare them unfavorably to older generations. I found smart people and brilliant people in each generation. Many of them are far more sensible than their parents.  After all each gen confronts its own unique challenges and difficulties. Both my grandfathers thought it was their right to pay (and get) dowry. My father did not think so. I shared my wedding expenses with my father in law – it was almost unheard of in 1992 (oops getting communal). So it’s unfair to judge one generation’s choices based on what the previous generation did. WE stood in queues for ration and milk. My daughter can’t imagine doing that. How any generation turns out is a byproduct of two influences: the unique set of circumstances they face and their upbringing by the generation before. We were told that Real Estate CAN never go down, brokers were thieves, bankers never lied, and RoI on Education was INFINITE. You know how things have changed, do you not?

We grew up in a world of relative security and increasing prosperity. We of course, claim that to be our contribution to the world. It is not. It is plain #$%^ luck. Millennials are growing up seeing terrorist attacks by the worlds biggest terrorist groups. Islamic terrorists or USA – depending on your point of view.  Government pensions have vanished, and NPS is underperforming the Index. WE SAW equity give us fab returns, Real Estate booming – and building the kitty of the mortgage companies. Today the Millennial is wondering whether it is worth educating himself or herself by paying a king’s ransom. Honestly I do not know whether it is worth spending Rs. 3 crores for an MBA from the USA. In the USA the kids are talking of a lost decade, and in India it is half a decade that is lost as of now. Talk about the stress the kids go through !! If you had a house which you thought was worth Rs 2 crores in Pallava (60 km from Mumbai) it is worth about half of that because it was hit by a flood! They saw the impact of a dramatic decline in property values – pushed  by the previous generation as one of the safest investments. They also saw the collapse of major companies like Enron, Lehman Brothers, Countrywide, Satyam, Adag, the list is endless.

Soch lo. Think again before you blame the kids. We have led them up the Garden path. Shame on us…Us.