More than a decade after launching their careers, Robert and Jill say they are finally dealing with their finances.
The couple lives in Kansas City, and they’ve done everything millennials have been asked to do to succeed: go to school, get good jobs, buy an affordable home, limit expenses, etc. They share one car, paid for in full, and Jill, 36, works from home so she can take care of their 1-year-old daughter and save on daycare expenses. Together, they bring home about $170,000 a year — Robert, 38, crossed the six-figure threshold earlier this year when he jumped from working in the public sector into the private sector.
However, even though they live “quasi-monastically,” according to Robert, cracks are forming in their financial institution. The federal student loan repayment pause will expire at the end of the summer, and Robert and Jill—whose family names have been withheld so they can speak freely about their finances—will need to redirect a few hundred dollars a month toward their cumulative $38,000 in debt; At the same time, they will need to start sending their daughter to daycare so that Jill can return to working as a full-time assistant professor.
“There’s a reason we haven’t changed our way of life,” Jill said. luck During a joint interview with Robert. “There is this impending financial storm.”
Their position mirrors that of many older millennials. Having started their lives during the Great Depression, they did just that I endured blow after financial hit. They graduated with more debt than previous generations; Housing prices have soared, as they have in recent years, the cost of many necessities; Childcare is too expensive for many (“It costs more than our mortgage,” Gill says), essentially pushing women out of the job market at a time when it is not possible for many families to generate a single income.
“It’s a sacrifice. She loves her career,” says Robert of Jill, who cut back her hours this year so she could stay home with their daughter. But aside from Jill getting the pro blow, the couple couldn’t see any other way to make math work. .
“Everyone says you can have it all, but you really can’t,” says Gale. “It’s a complete misrepresentation. You get to choose how you spend your time and spend your money.”
Because when you add up what the average life costs in the United States today, it’s no surprise that even six-figure people live paycheck to paycheck. For those with student loans like Robert and Jill, I felt the federal payment halt was a temporary “light” that could finally help them move on. But as that delay draws to a close, it comes back to reality.
“I know daycare costs will come down eventually, but we’re not that young,” Jill says, noting that they finally feel secure enough to prioritize their retirement investments—at least until the fall. “How many Americans don’t have enough to retire? We don’t want to be in that group, it scares us.”
Gail and Robert did everything they could to prepare for the fall. They are staying in a home that doesn’t quite fit their family’s needs because they have paid off the mortgage almost in full (Robert bought it in 2011). Ideally, they’d like to retire early – hence the “monk-like” commitment to saving. They’ve thrown thousands of extra dollars on their student loans over the past three years, hoping to be debt-free by the end of this year.
“We always have food, we always have a place to live, and we drive one car,” says Gill. “Our goal has always been to be financially independent and not work until we die.”