SoFi Blog

A wealthy real estate mogul recently told millennials to stop buying avocado toast if they ever want to buy a house, and the internet went berserk. The advice was poorly received, because many felt that it was out of touch with the current financial environment. For one, the millennial generation has only ever known income stagnation, wages that haven’t kept up with inflation, and skyrocketing college and real estate prices. Two, the assertion that we can’t stop shelling out for fancy breakfast foods buys into the shallow narrative that millennials don’t know the meaning of hard work or the value of a dollar.

While I largely side with the outraged denizens of the interwebs, I’ll play devil’s advocate here: Clearly, Avocado Man was hoping to make a point about frivolous spending, but he veers off track when making the assumption that this is a trademark of the millennial generation. Current times have seen people of all ages spend more on “stuff” than ever before.

Think about your best memories of your parents while you were growing up for a moment. Maybe it’s the year they finally bought that bike you wanted for your birthday, or all the times you opened the freezer to see it stocked with mint chocolate chip ice cream, because mom knew it was your favorite.

It’s worth pondering as you take in your parents now, as they grow older. You might be wondering when you’ll be returning the favor of taking care of them, and more importantly, how.

Buying a home can be a source of new excitement in your life—but it can also be the source of a bunch of new problems. Once you’ve made it through the whole house-hunting process and closed on a home, there’s still plenty to think about, from considering home renovations, to hiring contractors, to dealing with moving expenses. And of course, while you’re handling all of this, you’re still paying your new mortgage every month.

If you just graduated from nursing school, personal finance is probably the last thing on your mind. You’ve burned the midnight oil memorizing medical terms that sound like a foreign language. You’ve put in rough clinical hours dealing with trying patients. You’re cramming for the NCLEX. And you’re ready to get out there and just do the job.

You might be thinking, “I went to school for a solid career, so the money will take care of itself.” Nurses do make pretty good salaries—you’re not wrong about that. In 2016, on average nurse practitioner made nearly $105,000 a year, registered nurses made more than $72,000, and practical and vocational nurses made $44,000. Demand for nurses of all stripes is growing, with the number of positions expected to increase between 16 and 31%, depending on the role, in the decade through 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Finding your dream home can be tricky, especially in a tough real estate market. Currently, home sales are falling nationwide due to a housing shortage that’s keeping prices high, making the process especially thorny. That’s why so many people are turning to home renovations to convert an eh, it’ll do house into a dream home. In fact, according to a survey by HomeAdvisor, home renovation spending is expected to continue to rise in 2017, with 80% of homeowners planning projects in the next 12 months.

Kate McKeon was one of those people. After growing up all over, from Sacramento to Europe, McKeon went to the University of Southern California to get her bachelor’s degree. She thought she was ready to become a Midwest girl during law school in Michigan, “then it got to be October,” she joked, and cold. She returned to L.A. in 2009, where she was ready to take another big step: Becoming a foster parent.