The Great Recession we're living through is hard on Americans of all ages, but we have to examine just how devastating it's been for young adults.

Many in their 20s and early 30s are deep in debt because they took out loans to finance their educations to get better jobs. They entered a job market that had little for them.

This summer, the unemployment rate for workers ages 16 to 24 was 17.3 percent and for those ages 25-34, the rate was 10.1 percent.

That compares with a national unemployment rate of 9.8 percent.

The Great Recession may color choices that members of this generation make for the rest of their lives, as the Great Depression did for their grandparents and great-grandparents.

A 2008 Yale study found long-term consequences on earnings when individuals enter the labor force during a recession.

These workers can expect initial wages that are stagnant or lower than the pay for the same work in better economic times. And 15 years after college graduation, they can still expect their earnings to remain lower than those who did not enter the labor market when unemployment was high.

Such wage suppression can have lifelong ramifications, especially combined with a stock market wipeout like the one we experienced last year.

A confidence problem

Yes, the Dow Jones industrial average hit 10,000 last week, but that milestone marker for blue chip stocks is just an emotional totem. It makes us feel good to see stocks bouncing back, but that progress does not mean our own retirement investment accounts are rebuilding at the same pace.

Young adults have years to recover from this setback, but they may lack the confidence to continue investing for the future. And you can't blame them for being cautious.

Since it's been so hard for them to earn a living — either because they are unemployed or so underemployed they must hold down multiple jobs — they may see little point in putting their money in an investment vehicle that could lose any of that cash. They would share that attitude with Depression-era survivors.

Shouldering debt load

But unlike their elders, members of this generation also are trying to pay off mounds of debt they acquired using student loans and credit cards. In a 2006 survey of college graduates under 35, more than a third said it would take them more than 10 years to pay off their household's education-related debt, according to Demos, the think tank that conducted the survey.

That could make it difficult for them to purchase homes or maintain and renovate houses they inherit from relatives.

Demos' solution to the financial quagmire of young adults is policy changes that make the economy rebound faster, college more affordable, credit cards less predatory and retirement income more secure.

Young adults can work on getting those issues pushed to the front of policy-makers' agenda but, in the meantime, they need to take care of themselves.

The takeaway from the Great Recession is not to stuff money in a mattress and hope for the best as many folks who lived through the Great Depression did all their lives.

Instead, take a deep breath and start your 401(k) with as little as $10 a week and keep stashing money in it for the next 30 years. As your paychecks get bigger, add more to the amount you save.

Master skill of saving

If you do not qualify for a 401(k) or your employer does not offer one, then start an individual retirement account (IRA) at your bank.

If you're unemployed, take as little as $5 from your unemployment check and put it in a savings account. Even when you are not working, you need to be preparing to work and preparing for a time when you will no longer have to work.

Continual saving, even when money is low, is a skill Great Depression survivors mastered. It's time for those in the Great Recession to acquire that skill for ourselves.

Shannon Buggs has completed the financial planning certificate program at the University of Houston. She welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot offer specific advice about individual circumstances. Contact her at shannon.buggs@chron.com.