A new generation began / in 1985. // Leading-edge babies are now in their 30's. // I'm one of them, // and we / are the social media generation. // We are unlike any generation the world has ever seen. // We are educated, / competitive, / and high-tech. // But we have a massive weakness. // It is our lack / of financial literacy. // Financial literacy / is being able to understand money / and how it works. // How many of us understand good debt versus bad debt, / compound interest, / and the idea of paying ourselves first? // If we don't understand money, / how will we be able to buy the things we want to buy, / do the things we want to do, / and one day / retire / debt-free? // As a member of the social media generation, / I live in the present. // We are so present / that we have a hard time thinking about the future. // Don't ask me what I want for dinner tomorrow. // That's a future / me problem. // And this applies to our finances as well. // Future me / will deal with it. // Where is this all coming from? // It's coming from us. // We feel the world / owes us something. // We feel entitled. // We want our ego to be stroked. // We want the good things in life, / and we want them now. // Instant gratification. // As part of the social media generation, / I grew up with smartphones and social media. // My friends and I would rather send text messages and videos / than meet up in person. // Phone calls? // Not our thing. // We use social media / to let others know what's happening in our lives. // Hey, did you see that on my Instagram story? // Is what we commonly ask our friends. // And we only show the world / the best of our best. // We are a generation that's motivated by likes, / comments, views, and shares. // What other people think about us is so important. // Sometimes / we forget that social media / also shows the best of other people's lives. // And when we see what they have, / we say, / ooh, I want one of those. // A few months ago, / I saw a TikTok video / where someone used an air fryer / to make some healthy fried chicken. // Come on, / healthy fried chicken? // How could I say no to that? // I bought an air fryer. // It was $100 I didn't need to spend. // And when asked about this impulsive purchase, I say, / TikTok made me buy it. // Our lack of financial literacy is hurting our generation. // Run the world? // We aren't ready for that yet. // The only thing we are running up right now is our credit card debt. // We are incurring record levels of debt at high interest rates. // Compound interest / is working against us. // And why are we going into debt? // We are buying things we can't afford to impress people / we don't even know or even care about. // We are setting ourselves up for failure by not understanding how money works. // We are making money decisions based on entitlement and ego. // Add easy access to credit to this mix, / and this is a recipe for disaster.