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There’s one day every two weeks where stress doesn’t exist — pay day. Your bank account is poppin’, there’s no work the next day, and you can feel the cash burning a hole in your pocket the second it gets deposited. But the rest of the days of the week? We’re all pretty much mentally in shambles trying to sort our lives out in order to become functioning members of modern society.
Student loan payment? Stress. Affording new work threads? Stress. Budgeting enough to wear you can go out this weekend with the boys and not have to worry about picking up the tab after losing a round of credit card roulette? Stress. Stresses are fucking everywhere, but Forbes came up with the four main stresses that all millennials face.
1. They’re moving into their prime spending years and they’re making major purchasing decisions. For over half of millennials, just paying for essentials is a source of stress. The first millennials (born in 1980) just reached their peak buying power, and younger millennials still intend to purchase homes and cars. These major financial decisions are no doubt a factor in their growing stress.
Buying a car is stressful as hell. I’ll venture to guess that most of us aren’t exactly savvy mechanics, so I have no idea if some former second-string-college-quarterback-turned-car-dealer is selling me a piece of junk with a malfunctioning engine or not. But that’s peanuts compared to the thought of buying a damn house. I can barely afford to add the $.50 peanut butter to my smoothies every morning let alone toss five-to-six figures out there for a down payment.
2. They’re entering their prime working years and moving up. Just three years ago 76% of millennials indicated work was a significant stressor in their lives, and as the oldest members of the generation become members of management teams and secure director level positions, the pressure to perform and lead their peers has increased.
All of us are transitioning from wondering, “Does anyone around here even know my name?” to “Oh, shit, the decisions I’m making actually hold some weight.” Feeling valuable in the workplace is something we all strive to do but it’s still hard as hell to impose your will when you’ve got a bunch of crotchety 60-year-olds tossing their weight around before retirement.
3. They’re thinking about their marriage, even if they’re not married yet. 23 percent of millennials are currently married, and 70% want to be. For millennials in long term relationships, family, financial and other relationship issues can circumstantially lead to tension and stress.
It probably doesn’t help that we spend most Thanksgivings, Christmases, and Easters fielding the, “So when are you thinking about settling down?” question from our aunts. Meanwhile, we’ve got every engagement ring commercial known to man playing during The Bachelor which just amplifies everyone’s anxiety about when it’s time to pop the question, especially considering the dude on the screen is doing it after a cool couple months on vacation with twenty or so hot babes. It’s real out here.
4. They’re Moms and Dads or are planning to be. 30 percent of millennials have kids, and 74% want to have children. As author and former Wall Street Journal editor Ron Alsop declared, the “Trophy Kids” have grown up. As parents, Millennials bend over backwards to perfectly parent, anticipating not only the needs, but also granting the wants of their offspring, Generation Alpha.
Okay, okay, pump the breaks here. Kids? Like I just said, I barely have the mental capacity to lease a 2012 Ford let alone fathom having multiple lives that I’m responsible for outside of my own. I mean, shit, I’m even considering renting puppies because I don’t find myself to be a suitable owner yet.
I thought reading these stresses would help calm my nerves by helping me realize I’m not alone, but it only amplified my Scaries more. .
[via Forbes]
Image via Unsplash
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Will
Will (Twitter / Instagram) is the host of The Sunday Scaries Podcast.
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I don’t need this right now.
Definitely some irony in an article all about stress written by a guy called Chill DeBreeze.
Prime spending years? I’m saving up to not get my bank account frozen by Sallie Mae.
Prime working years? I can’t wait to not retire when I’m 75 all so I can do copious amounts of drugs while filling out nursing home applications for myself.
Thinking about marriage? The only thing I think about is escaping every limiting construct in my life, like relationships.
Planning to be a parent? Most people I know are pulling out or wishing they did.
‘Generation alpha’.. yeah that won’t got to their heads
I still stress over getting myself out of bed and ready for work like an adult
At 28 I’ve never felt further away from actually “adulting” than when I read this.
wear/where usage in paragraph 1 stressing me out as much as the rest
Thanks a lot for triggering the Scaries to start a long weekend instead of ending it.
I don’t have a long weekend, PGP
Will, I’d look over a vehicle and hold your hand to prevent sales-rape for a 12 pack. Only for you though, Dillon deserves to get taken to the cleaners by some former second-string-college-quarterback-turned-car-dealer.
“I’m holding on too tight. I’ve lost the edge. I’m sorry, sir.” – a really good friend of mine.