Answer: 22

Questions:

• When you you hope to become financially independent? What do you think it means to be "financially independent?" 
• Why do you think the younger generation is more optimistic about when they will become financially independent?
• When do you think you will be able to do the following?

a) Pay for your own streaming service?

b) File your own taxes?

c) Pay for your own health insurance

d) Start saving for retirement and investing?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom

Behind the numbers: (from CNBC):

According to a survey from TD Ameritrade, young Americans (15-28) say they’ll be financially independent by age 22. Meanwhile, their parents (30-60) don’t expect to cut the purse strings until their children are 25. Here is when the young adults who were surveyed thought they would achieve other financial milestones:

The first among them is paying for your own streaming service. Young adults expect to be able to do that by age 19. By 21, they say they should be able to file their own taxes. By 23, they should be able to pay for their own health insurance, start saving for retirement and invest in the stock market. And 25 is the ideal age for getting married and starting a family, the young people surveyed said.

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There's a movement afoot to not only be financially independent but also to retire early. It's called the F.I.R.E. movement and you can hear more about this movement from Canada's youngest retirees, Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung, on this NGPF Podcast. 

About the Authors

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.