{"id":256521,"date":"2025-07-11T15:38:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/256521\/"},"modified":"2025-07-11T15:38:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T15:38:17","slug":"retire-rich-the-financial-struggles-of-gen-z-and-millennials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/256521\/","title":{"rendered":"Retire Rich: The financial struggles of Gen Z and millennials"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Rob McClelland, president of The McClelland Financial Group, and his 26-year-old daughter Georgia launched a podcast to help Gen Z and Millennial Canadians set themselves up for long-term financial security.BADGAL GRAPHICZ\/Supplied<\/p>\n

Good morning. <\/b>Judging by the wave of out-of-office replies in my inbox, many of you are on vacation this week. If that\u2019s you, thanks for reading from the beach, cottage, or wherever you\u2019re relaxing. If you\u2019re not on vacation, welcome to the club. Today\u2019s edition features an insightful Q&A you won\u2019t want to miss.<\/p>\n

A podcast about financial basics <\/p>\n

A lot of young Canadians don\u2019t know where to start with financial planning and many are too embarrassed to ask. Professional advice can be expensive, and the internet is a minefield of conflicting tips and self-styled \u201cfinfluencers\u201d who don\u2019t always have their followers\u2019 best interests in mind. <\/p>\n

One new podcast is trying to address that problem. Am I Rich Yet?<\/a>, co-hosted by veteran financial adviser Rob McClelland and his 26-year-old daughter Georgia breaks down financial basics in a way that\u2019s clear, practical and tailored to Gen Z and millennials.<\/p>\n

In our e-mail conversation, Rob and Georgia discussed why they chose to focus on younger Canadians, the role of social media in the money conversation, and what it\u2019s like working together as a father-daughter team. Here\u2019s an edited version of our exchange.<\/p>\n

Q: Let\u2019s start at the beginning. Personally and professionally, what led the two of you to launch this podcast together?<\/b><\/p>\n

Rob:<\/b> I\u2019d recently decided to retire based on a health diagnosis. I knew I still had a lot to give. I had experience not only as a financial adviser, but also creating podcasts. My original plan was to develop a podcast for young advisers to help them become more efficient and pass on the lessons I wish I\u2019d learned earlier in my own career. Then, my daughter Georgia suggested that I do a podcast for millennials and Generation Z and the struggles they are having. I thought it was a great idea. <\/p>\n

Georgia: <\/b>I had just returned home to Toronto for a six-week break. I\u2019m currently completing my master of business at the University of Sydney in Australia. On the plane ride home, I wrote down a few goals for my time off. First, continue planning out my next career move. Second, come up with a passion project to keep me busy during the downtime. It needed to be something fun, and something I hadn\u2019t done before. After one afternoon where we had a conversation about the podcast, I knew this was it.<\/p>\n

Q: There\u2019s no shortage of money content out there, but a lot of it skips over the basics, such as how to actually save as a young person when everything\u2019s so expensive. Why did you decide to focus this show on helping younger Canadians, rather than speaking to seasoned investors?<\/b><\/p>\n

R:<\/b> I have three kids who fit the profile. One who is a saver, one who is a spender, and one who is still figuring out which one she is. As an adviser, although we knew we had to help the next generation, it was always difficult to justify it financially. Unfortunately, they just don\u2019t have enough money to pay the bills for an adviser. There is lots of content out there on more detailed strategies, building portfolios and doing planning, but less that covers the basics.<\/p>\n

G: <\/b>When we looked into what content was already out there, we realized that most of it was U.S.-focused. We saw an opportunity to create something tailored to Canadians. I knew the need was out there because I felt it myself. To test the proof of concept, I reached out to 100 people in my network who fit the demographic and asked them to send in the questions they\u2019d ask a financial adviser. Within 48 hours, we had over 150 responses. The demand was clear, so we built the series around those questions.<\/p>\n

Q: More young people are turning to TikTok and YouTube for financial advice. What do you make of that?<\/b><\/p>\n

R:<\/b> I think it\u2019s a great sign that young Canadians are clearly eager to learn. The problem is, there\u2019s no filter on that content. Some of the advice out there is solid, but a lot of it is dangerously bad. What we\u2019re offering comes from over 30 years of experience helping thousands of people build real financial success. Not many voices on TikTok or YouTube can say that. <\/p>\n

G: <\/b>He\u2019s right. I\u2019ve been exposed to some pretty questionable advice on social media, but I\u2019ve been lucky enough to have had a sounding board (my dad) to guide me away from it. We all know how powerful social media is in getting messages out \u2212 for better or for worse \u2212 and we wanted to take the opportunity to contribute to some of that good.<\/p>\n

Q: Money isn\u2019t always easy to talk about within families, so what\u2019s it like being a father-daughter duo diving into this stuff every week?<\/b><\/p>\n

R: <\/b>Because I was a financial adviser, talking about money has never been that difficult for me. For both Georgia and I, I\u2019ve found that the conversation has been relatively easy. She\u2019s been really helpful in making sure the messaging and wording is palatable for people in her generation. Asking me to repeat things, or explain something differently.<\/p>\n

G: <\/b>Agreed. Like any two people working together on a project there were certain things we disagreed on, but I\u2019d say as a whole we did a pretty good job at compromising and letting go of little things that weren\u2019t worth arguing about. We had a lot of laughs. Maybe my dad would disagree \u2026<\/p>\n

Q: Rob, you\u2019ve spent decades helping Canadians manage their money. But what\u2019s something you\u2019re learning for the first time now that you\u2019re doing this podcast with Georgia?<\/b><\/p>\n

R: <\/b>The thing I\u2019ve learned most about this podcast is that so much of this knowledge is in my head already. That\u2019s what happens when you\u2019ve done over 1,500 meetings with clients over the years. I think the other important thing is that I\u2019ve had to simplify things for clients. It\u2019s no different for this age group. Sometimes it does feel strange to explain what an RRSP is, but the reality is probably less than 25 per cent of Canadians could explain it. We forget that the language we use every day in our profession or from school can feel like a completely different language to someone just starting out.<\/p>\n

Q: Georgia, you\u2019re tapped into what your peers are going through financially. What\u2019s the number one thing your friends are stressed about when it comes to money?<\/b><\/p>\n

G:<\/b> Housing, 100 per cent. The idea of owning real estate feels out of reach for so many of us. The prices in the cities we actually want to live in feel like this massive mountain we\u2019ll never be able to climb. And because we\u2019re all so connected now, if you see people your age who have managed to buy property, it\u2019s hard not to feel like you\u2019re already behind. That comparison creates a lot of stress, and for some people, it becomes so discouraging that they just look away from saving altogether. But that\u2019s a myth we\u2019re trying to challenge in our podcast. <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udea8 The Globe is looking to speak with Canadians who were laid off later in their career. How did that affect your retirement plans? E-mail me at mraman@globeandmail.com with your story.<\/p>\n

The Calculator <\/p>\n

The real story behind pension plan membership in Canada? The gulf between public and private sectors<\/a><\/p>\n

More Canadians are enrolled in workplace pension plans, but there\u2019s still a big gap between private and public sectors. <\/b>A recent report from Statistics Canada found that 7.2 million Canadians were active members of a registered pension plan in 2023, up 4.2 per cent from the year before. But most of those with defined benefit plans \u2212 the gold standard for predictable retirement income \u2212 are still in the public sector.<\/p>\n

Why it matters: <\/b>Access to workplace pensions is improving, but the gap in retirement security<\/a> between public- and private-sector workers remains wide.<\/p>\n

The Retirement Receipt Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Retired social worker Sheila Baslaw, 92, took up writing after retirement and recently co-authored a children’s book.Ashley Fraser\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n

\u00a0This 92-year-old retiree is doing things on her own terms.<\/b><\/p>\n

The situation: <\/b>Sheila Baslaw retired from a career in social work in 1997. After her husband passed away in 2016, she dived into exploring new passions, painting, diving deeper into Jewish history, and even having her bat mitzvah at age 67. \u201cWhat I love about retirement is having the freedom to do what I want, when I want,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s intoxicating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The numbers: <\/b>Ms. Baslaw draws from a healthy RRIF and receives a small workplace pension. She took CPP and OAS as soon as she retired and mainly lives off her pension, keeping her savings intact.<\/p>\n

Her advice: <\/b>Ms. Baslaw encourages soon-to-be retirees to discover what truly interests them and make the time to pursue it. Also, she said to seek out friends of different ages and backgrounds.<\/p>\n

Best of the Rest <\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe6 Big banks\u2019 sales targets may influence advisers\u2019 product recommendations<\/b><\/a>. A survey by regulators found some advisers may feel pushed to sell products that weren\u2019t in their clients\u2019 best interests. Nearly half of advisers said bank scorecards (a tool used to track adviser performance) influenced their recommendations.<\/p>\n

\ud83e\udd11 A rising number of Canadians are millionaires. So why don\u2019t they feel rich?<\/b><\/a> The number of \u201ceveryday millionaires,\u201d those with wealth between US$1-million and US$5-million, has quadrupled globally since 2000, reaching nearly 52 million people. But a lot of the money is tied up in housing, which skews how \u201crich\u201d people actually feel.<\/p>\n

\ud83c\udfe1 <\/b>A fight over a family cottage just cost two executors $21,000 out of pocket.<\/b><\/a> <\/b>After being removed as trustees for mishandling an estate and triggering a major tax bill, they appealed \u2026 and lost. Ontario\u2019s top court said the appeal wasn\u2019t in the estate\u2019s best interest and ruled the pair personally liable for legal costs.<\/p>\n

\ud83d\udd25 <\/b>People are obsessed with payday routine videos.<\/b><\/a> <\/b>These simple, oddly satisfying clips feature creators tallying their monthly income and expenses, everything from rent and savings to takeout and beauty treatments. For some viewers, they\u2019re reassuring. For others, they spark spending guilt. Either way, they\u2019re hard to stop watching.<\/p>\n

Try This <\/p>\n

\ud83d\udc8a Do a midyear check on your workplace benefits. <\/b>We\u2019re more than halfway through 2025 (yes, really). Have unused massage credits? Book that appointment. Still haven\u2019t seen the dentist? Time to go. Make the most of what\u2019s already available to you \u2212 your December self will thank you.<\/p>\n