The founder and CEO of Alloy Wealth, Mark Henry has spent decades working in the financial industry. An experienced Certified Estate Planner, he has made it his mission to equip clients with the knowledge, skills, and financial plans they need to thrive in retirement. With the help of his team at Alloy Wealth, Mark Henry creates written retirement plans that take into account individual circumstances, lifestyles, budgets, and goals, as well as tax-advantaged strategies and a variety of financial vehicles.
In addition to the direct planning services that Alloy Wealth provides to clients, Mark Henry offers financial advice to the public through a wide range of platforms. He has been featured on television, radio, and podcasts, and also undertakes speaking engagements on various financial topics. In addition, he has a YouTube channel and blog called Living Large Retirement that covers a variety of topics related to estate planning, preparation for retirement, and investment and finances in general. One recent topic that Mr. Henry covered in a blog article was the fact that while average pay has risen over the past few decades, the cost of living has also increased—often at a faster rate than salaries.
Financially Challenging Circumstances
Millennials and Gen Zers are arguably facing some of the most financially challenging circumstances in history. Their compensation is much higher than that of previous generations, with the minimum wage in many states now above $15 (although the federal minimum wage remains at $7.25, and the nationwide average is $11.18), and more skilled jobs enjoy higher pay. But in most cases, this rise in compensation has not kept up with the increase in the price of goods and services. Housing prices have risen to astronomical levels over the past decade, making it virtually impossible for most young adults to afford to purchase a home. Rent has risen from between $350 to $600 per month in the late 1990s to between $1,700-$2,600 for the same size apartment—nearly a 500 percent increase. Yet, the average income in the US has not come anywhere close to increasing by five times. Electricity in the late 1990s cost $0.08 per kilowatt hour, but today it costs anywhere from $12 to $40 per kilowatt hour, which means that some people are paying more than 400 times as much for power as the previous generation.
Making things even harder, medical costs continue to skyrocket—a fact that is leading many Millennials and Gen Zers to put off having children. The current cost of an uncomplicated vaginal birth is $30,000 in the United States, while a C-section can cost as much as $50,000. And while a lot of people might assume that medical insurance covers these costs, the reality is that many health plans leave new parents with a large bulk of the bill—an expense that can bankrupt them, or at the very least set them back by years or even decades when it comes to saving for retirement.
Because costs have risen more rapidly than incomes, most Americans are still living paycheck to paycheck. Many feel a lack of confidence when it comes to planning for retirement. But Mr. Henry maintains that it is possible to regain financial confidence and begin saving for retirement through a number of small, positive steps. He suggests recalibrating your perspective, maintaining a positive outlook, looking for places where small budgetary changes can make a big difference (such as cancelling outdated or unnecessary subscriptions), and looking for side hustles that can help to boost your income. He also suggests setting money aside in an emergency fund, which is the first step toward establishing financial security. From there, your goal should be to diversify your savings across various investments to help lay the foundation for retirement.
