REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Millennials are noted as a group that is pretty much entangled in online loans (pinjol) and paylater. According to financial planner Gembong Suwito, 63 percent of millennials are known to have no emergency funds. Nearly 55 percent of millennials, the sandwich generation, have to meet the needs of their parents as well as their children.
“They generally have no financial goals, no track so finances are irregular,” Gembong said during an event with blu by BCA Digital in Jakarta, Tuesday (17/10/2023).
Gembong said social media factors and consumption patterns also influence this phenomenon. Millennials are also exposed to the ease of buying things without having money aka with paylater.
Then stuck pinjol as a result of lifestyle. The difference with old times is that people have to save to buy something they want. According to him, almost all media today provide exposure to information with a consumptive pattern and all the ease. “The paylater can be a mountain, he can't see the benefits and is supported by the ease of lifestyle,” he continued.
Gembong also mentioned one instance where people with UMR salaries but had loans at 33 pinjol. In this day and age, the younger generation feels they always have to look modern by going to the mall, buying the latest clothes, and being fueled with amazingly massive and consistent advertising.
“The fact is that millennials are more wasteful than they used to be, because one, incoming advertising information, discounts, but accumulating will have a significant impact. If in the past there was not a lot of information, discounts, and to buy is not as easy as it is now. So the finances of the current generation are more irregular and wasteful,” he said.
Therefore, it is important to have a financial check-up, whether more assets or debts. Then the assets are productive or consumptive, and how to manage expenses from income.
These financial checks need to be viewed at least once a year so that the decisions made can be clearly measured. He often advises clients to do so at least once every six months so that financial resolutions are clearly monitored.