 Hi and welcome to Bright Minds from Tick Mill. I'm your host Patrick Munnerly and in this series we're setting out to answer some of the most commonly asked questions around investment and trading through entertaining and insightful conversations with seasoned insiders. Millennials, loosely defined as those born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s now make up the largest generation in the workforce and as such their financial habits and aspirations are reshaping the financial landscape. However, this generation has faced numerous economic hurdles that have shaped their financial journeys in profound ways. According to a recent study, 48% of millennials experience anxiety over their finances, the highest figure for any generation older or younger, the 2008 financial crisis, rising student loan debt, huge technological upheaval of the jobs market and of course the global pandemic have all impacted the millennial financial profile. These factors, combined with the rising costs of living and stagnant wages have made it challenging for millennials to achieve financial stability, invest for their future and reach important milestones such as home ownership. But it's not all doom and gloom. Millennials are on average more educated than previous generations and thanks to being the first generation to grow up with computers and the internet are quick to adopt a new technology which has given rise to new avenues for financial success. Millennials are also reshaping the investment landscape and are credited with driving growth in ESG or sustainable investing. Our guest today Gabriel Nussbaum left a career in the financial industry to pursue his mission to spread financial literacy providing online content covering money saving ideas, investment guides and budgeting tips. He's gained over 1.3 million followers on TikTok alone with over 46 million views on the platform. In today's episode we'll be discussing millennials financial habits, social media, side hustle culture and the role of good financial education. Gabriel thanks for joining us today. Could you start by giving us an overview of your journey so far and tell us what motivated you to quit your nine to five to build a career as a financial content creator? I graduated from Imperial College studying mechanical engineering and went into quite a typical path which is finance. It's probably one of the more common paths of engineers these days despite the protests of our lecturers. And I was there for two years on a graduate scheme at Barclays within the payment sector and to be honest I loved it. It was really really enjoyable. However at the same time I was also building my kind of side hustle as you could call it which was creating finance based social media as you put it quite nicely, increased financial literacy. And of course this was predominantly through short form content which like you said is TikTok, Instagram Rails, the rest. So it was really bite sized 30 second educational videos just to spark someone's interest, give someone something to think about on a platform filled with mainly entertainment and very little education at the time. And I was quite fortunate in the fact that after two to three weeks on the platform my content was being picked up by a very large audience to my surprise. And within one month there were a hundred thousand people following me. Within six months there were a million people following me. So quite the rise I really tried not to think about numbers too much but I suppose that's a conversation for another time. And yeah so I was doing this for quite a long time and after about a year of creating content and starting to build a revenue source through it via brand deals and other means and sources I realised that this essentially could be done full time. I loved what I was doing. I was really interested and passionate on the topic and about what were you now, eight months, eight to nine months ago Last summer I decided to tell Barclays that I was going to leave and pursue this full time and to be honest the people around me were ecstatic. They were really happy for me and it's been quite the journey ever since trying to figure out how to be self-employed being that until that point I've gone through school, university and then a full nine to five job. So this is a very new experience for me but also just incredible in terms of some of the experiences and opportunities I've had for example talking on podcasts like these which is still a little bit surreal to me and I'm very fortunate for all of those opportunities. We heard in the introduction some of the factors that have affected the finances of the typical millennial. For example student loan debt, rising cost of living and the pandemic I guess to name a few would have been your personal experiences of these factors and how have you managed their impact on your finances? Obviously like most Gen Z and Millennials probably starting to earn a salary for the first time. We've been hit by some of the hardest times possible coming out of university. I mean I graduated during COVID, started work during COVID completely online and now I've had to go through what you could probably look back and call another financial crisis here in the UK. So in terms of looking at things like student loans these are constant debates as to do you want to pay things off more aggressively or are you happy to just keep looking at it as I suppose a tax burden rather than a loan burden which is one way that people look at it. In terms of trying to just keep up and live in London obviously coming out of university you could argue that you're going into your lowest wage expectancy. It should be kind of upwards from there but I wanted to move out. I have moved out. I'm living in London obviously soaring food prices, 10% inflation on average over the past year or so you could look at. All of these things are struggles but of course I know at the same time I'm quite fortunate I've been able to manage to keep up to pay my bills all these kind of things but my objective and I suppose my experience is that this is not the case for the majority of people my age which is why I'm hoping through this financial literacy that I provide in terms of social media I can help someone somewhere in some way because as it's commonly known here in the UK especially financial education is pretty much nil. It was not taught to me in school. It was not taught to me in university. Everything that I know is more or less either self-taught or come through personal relations, family, teaching me things but that's not the case for most people. Most people don't go and seek out this education on their own. They don't have family disabled to educate them so I've gone to the places that these people are and that is social media and so hopefully I'm sparking interest in one person or a few people to try and you know learn their way out of this crisis and have you found that social media plays a big part in millennials financial decision-making and and if so do you think the the impact is broadly positive or negative? From my experience it is huge astronomical the size in terms of the expectancy of millennials taking their education from these sources and you have to probably think about firstly the amount of time that people are spending on these apps whether it be social media or even something like YouTube which I suppose you could look as a bit of a search engine. It's where I predominantly educated myself before looking to more you know I suppose well-known resources like books, journals, magazines, newspaper reports all those kind of things but it is where I started and from listening to my audience it's where a lot of them are starting as well. It's their first interaction with even considering financial education in the first place which is crazy to think about and like you just mentioned along with the good comes the bad. There are a lot of people taking advantage especially during the pandemic years so through 2021 and 2022 when I was having my growth there was a lot of accounts especially in short form that were taking advantage of telling people exactly what to do you know financial advice which is quite literally illegal. They were saying buy this stock buy this crypto I mean you had the crypto surge which obviously crashed because it was kind of a high and fashionable thing at the time so there was a lot a lot of dangerous information and misinformation being put out there for people that were not educated on the subject and kind of what I set out as my mission at that time was just if I can try and be the balance be that financial education so when they are being you know when they are seeing this other side of the content the more harmful side at least they're going in there with a bit of you know educational and financial educational background. What are some of the practical tips for millennials looking to I guess establish a solid financial foundation including things like budgeting saving and especially in this day and age managing debt. There are a lot of tips that I'll give but I'll try and kind of distill it down to a few top ones so I think the first and one of the most important is just to start talking and educating yourself on the subject again here in the UK finance talking about money is a massive taboo. People are not comfortable talking about the subject I don't know where that's come from specifically maybe it's our culture maybe it's just generation to generation but I always told people just start talking about it with someone in your circle because balancing those conversations and having a opening up those conversations might save you a lot of money down the line when a crisis hits you something that you're not sure about and instead of keeping that in words and just to yourself and holding on to it and potentially making it more harmful you're comfortable just saying something to someone who might point you in the right direction whether someone you know or even looking for professional help and advice so that's one of the biggest tips that I've given people obviously on top of that educating yourself and looking into it on your own and then the second thing is for the majority of people cutting out you know a Starbucks here or there isn't going to be that thing that's going to save you financially I've always spoken about the three big categories which are transport housing and food those are your three biggest men categories for majority people my age so if you are looking to try and significantly save money attack those categories can you you know rent somewhere 10% cheaper because let's say you and a partner are paying I don't know 1500 to 2000 pounds a month 150 pounds a month saved is a massive amount of money compared to three pounds a week on your Starbucks so those are the places that you really need to look and then the third thing that I say is just start being aware of your outgoings because everyone is fully aware of how much money is going into their account if you're being paid you're fully aware what your salary is how much you're getting after tax you're keeping an eye on that and you see that nice number come into your account what people really don't keep track of is what's leaving their account they don't keep an eye they have no idea if you ask the average person how much did you spend last month they'll say I have absolutely no idea so what I found in my own personal experience is by literally becoming comfortable with opening up your bank account and starting to look once a month at how much has gone out you will easily start to find things that are not necessary where you can car expenditure really quickly and I think that's kind of what it is at the moment it's all about saving you know money where you can because that's really really important to hold on whilst we're going through this turbulent stage to save anything you can for a more successful future but also to go towards those things that are soaring across like your food like your you know energy bills all those kind of things so those are three really big tips I'd give to people my age. According to a recent bank rate survey around half of millennial Americans have an additional source of income outside their main method of earning what opportunities and challenges do side hustles present and how can millennials effectively manage their finances while pursuing these ventures. I think side hustles are brilliant but I don't think they have to be for everyone obviously I'm coming from someone who had a side hustle and built it out quite successfully but I can understand why some people you know just want to get on with their nine to five they want to just work and relax work and relax and there's just two different ways of looking and approaching you know your working life and maybe it will just come at a different time so if those of you that or for those people listening that are encouraged or do like the idea of a side hustle I think it's a fantastic opportunity one thing that's become quite noticeable especially during the pandemic again and post pandemic is the idea that there's really no such thing as a stable job anymore you saw people with lifelong commitments to companies being let go because companies all of a sudden had to cut costs they were being absolutely you know devastated by by a crisis and regardless of how loyal you'd been how long you'd been there how much experience you had if they did not need you anymore it was like bye bye so the idea of a side hustle maybe might sound a little bit you know relaxed another way that you could probably consider it is just an additional source of income something that can stabilize you if the worst thing happens so let's say you lose your job and but if you've built that second source of income that third source of income losing a job isn't going to be you know like life threatening to you you don't have to you know really desperately try and get a job SAP because you've got other sources of income um being brought in which is an attractive thing and I do think that most people should start to to look at those sources and in terms of you know like you mentioned managing your finances whilst also looking for a side hustle I understand that these things are difficult but I suppose one way to approach it is when building another source of income it doesn't have to start tomorrow you don't have to be bringing something in like literally within 24 hours what I've done here and through my side hustle took 12 months to put it to a place where it was bringing in a nice part of revenue but that's probably even quite a quick time span I mean think about how long it took you to get your job through 15 years of education plus another four years or three years in higher education to get to where you are you weren't in a rush to get the job that time round so think about it that way and really plan it a long-term option that you're going to enjoy and be passionate about because that's part of the you know a big part of building side hustles and what what role does financial education play in empowering millennials to make informed financial decisions I think financial education is everything but I don't want it to sound intimidating at the same time so often what I tell people is if you can you know put in a bit of effort I don't know a few hours you will probably put yourself in a position ahead of 90% of the country you will understand you know the basics the fundamentals of budgeting the fundamentals of how tax and debt work the fundamentals of investment you know all of these categories that aren't complicated to get from level zero to level one no one's telling anyone that they need to get to level 10 because if you're not interested in it that don't don't even bother because you're just going to be put off by it more get yourself to level one and you're going to be in a really you know good standing position and that's what I see is kind of the the paramount and the importance of financial literacy how can we improve financial literacy amongst this generation that's the that's the million dollar question isn't it that's the one I'm trying to solve on my own I mean I would love some kind of formalized education in you know especially in the UK but but worldwide I mean it's so important I mean a lot of people say they don't work for money or money isn't everything and you know there's so much more to life but it is like undeniable the importance of money in your life just having it to you know pay the bare necessities or having it to give yourself options to further enhance the experiences that you have within your life so regardless of whether you know you're driven by money or not it will interact with your life which is why I think that every single person needs some kind of formalized education on the matter but until that point I will continue doing my bit to try and use you know unrecognized sources social media YouTube speaking to people as and when I can out in public or in personal with my family because until something form was put in these are the sources that most people are going to go and learn from what do you think are some of the investment strategies that are suitable for millennials at the different stages of their lives and and how can they get started get a get a foot on the ladder so to speak so obviously with everything I have to say that this isn't financial device I'll kind of share my own personal experiences with you know starting your relationship with investing the first thing I always tell people is just education it does not take long go on YouTube and watch a half an hour video explaining the concept of investing and how it works and then a second one showing you how to do it a bit of a tutorial and often what I tell people is they're like which platform which you know ETF should I invest into or like should it be the S&P the US market or the UK market and I like to just say do your education to figure out your own answers but just start because starting is probably the biggest hurdle that most people have to you know attempt and I'm not telling people again that they need to be putting away you know a thousand pounds a month or 250 pounds a month but just start putting away you know a pound throw something in there that will just get some skin in the game to to make you want to learn about it more because I think it's a fundamental tool that is just not used I think what did I see as a stat the other day 14% of people in the UK have an ISA which is like you know stocks and shares ISA which is you know our tax protected investing account option here in the UK it's called other things around the world you know your Roth IRA all those kind of things in the US but that's a really low number I don't know I mean I might have had that's that wrong I think it's maybe that at an upper limit so just getting that skin in the game and starting to you know attempt it often when I'm talking to people in the street they just say they can't afford to invest obviously their money's going elsewhere and I completely understand that side of things as well but if that is the case for yourself then perhaps put yourself in the position where you know about what investing is and the benefits of it of what it is so that when you are in the position to go and start putting some money away there's not any more hesitation because a lot of what is kind of common research in the investing game is that time in the market always beats timing the market you want to try and start early or as early as you can so once you can you know take that leap always I would always say try and do it if that's right in your personal situation and I guess so looking ahead what do you think will be the most significant financial challenges and I guess opportunities as well for millennials in the coming years and how can they prepare for them by far the biggest challenge that I'm experiencing I'm seeing other people around me experience is the housing market I mean what is it now 10 times the average salary to try and buy a property give or take you know a factor maybe that's 11 or 9 who knows it just seems to be so difficult and I'm one of those people personally struggling I rent at the moment but I would love the opportunity to buy and I just think that that is probably the biggest kind of crisis for this generation obviously you hear older generations talk about oh when we were buying a house it was 15 percent mortgage rates but you know you take it very easy to take a look back then and see that yeah but house prices were three times your salary not 10 times your salary so so there's obviously that argument and I think that it's going to be very tough there's no other way to put to kind of say it you've got companies that are trying to come out with new mortgage you know offerings like an 100% offering that came out last month we've been down that route before and it didn't work too well I was gonna say if you throw us back what 15 years ago to 120 percent 125 percent I do think it's different these days I think they're done with a lot more stringency they're a lot more strict about who can get these products and I don't think we're going down the same route as you know what happened 15 years ago but I think it's also very important to tell the current generation that buying a property isn't the be all and end all anymore it was often fantasized as you know like the American dream or the British dream to own your own property but I'm very comfortable with renting to be honest I've got no liabilities or something goes wrong with my property that's down to my landlord it's quite a reasonable rate compared to potentially what I'd be paying for a mortgage right now with the current interest rates and you know I've got flexibility if I want to move somewhere else in a year or two I'm not so stressed because you know my contract finishes and I can go and do that so I think renting is is quite a superpower these days and it really needs to be taken more advantage of and seen as a quite a positive option for the current generation with the current struggles of what's going on with trying to buy a house Gabriel thank you so much for for joining us today where can our listeners find you online so I am pretty much on every social media platform so whichever one you like to consume your social media on whether the YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or even Snapchat I know there are some very young listeners if there are that might still be on that platform just through my name so if you look up Gabriel Nisbaum you should be able to find me and I hope that you enjoy the content that I put out into the world great stuff thanks again for your time Gabriel absolute pleasure thank you for having me