Money on my mind: Talking financial health with millennials

Royal Bank of Scotland is on a mission to help tackle the financial issues faced by a third of young Scots who find it difficult to manage their money through its free and confidential Financial Health Check Service

Photograhy by Jess Shurte

Sitting around a table discussing money and financial health with seven of Scotland’s most influential social media bloggers, all ‘millennials’ like me, quickly dispels the myth that mine is a generation of avocado addicts, glued to their phones with little notion of ‘a decent days’ work’. My fellow diners have all built online businesses out of grit and creativity- their success due to their individualism and hard work. Yes, we were tucking into hearty plates of French toast, so that bit about loving brunch is probably true, but our conversation left me in no doubt that whilst there are young people out there getting savvy about their money, there are plenty of us who felt in the dark and uncertain about our financial security.

“There’s a reason I eat supernoodles for dinner” admits fashion blogger and student, Aoife Malone, “I’m generous to a fault and I’m always spending money impulsively. I feel like I should have been taught basic money management in school!”

The Gentleman Select, Peter Gemmell agrees, “yeah dealing with your own personal finances seems like it has moved on so much from even ten years ago. I feel like we’ve gone from cash machines to cryptocurrency but we’re still struggling to understand what goes on in between.”

Amy Newcombe, The Luminous Life is one of the lucky ones; “my dad has helped advise me, but I know a lot of my friends don’t have that support. I think there’s definitely a stigma about talking about money with millennials.”

“But I think it’s healthy to talk about money with your peers,” suggests Edineats Ailsa Harper. “They’ll understand the challenges of managing money, like trying to save for cars and homes, but also have a social life and not feel like you’re cutting back on the good times.”

Scott McGlashan, Blu Blazer Guy is definitely on the right track; “I’m a firm believer in keeping finances in check. I did the Financial Health Check with the Royal Bank and it offered valuable insights, advice and reassurance.”

And me? I’ve gone twenty-four years sparing little thought to budgeting, much less the future. The brunch inspired me to make a change so a few days later I was the proud owner of my very own financial plan, having attended a twenty minute Financial Health Check in a Royal Bank branch. The free and confidential service is available to both Royal Bank customers and non-customers and can also be done over the phone making it even easier to get on top of your life admin. The Financial Health Check service is designed to empower people to feel more in control of their finances and help them work towards their own financial goals whether that is getting on the property ladder or saving for a rainy day... From now on, I will be a little more mindful before wielding my contactless card to open the Pandora’s box of clothes, restaurants and trips with one little tap.

For more information, visit https://personal.rbs.co.uk/personal/financial-health-check.html. Terms and conditions apply.