I began looking at the financial challenges faced by millennials in a column on how young adults have it harder than I did when I was their age. Four years after that column was written, we finally seem to be making some headway in recognizing the troubles that people in their 20s and 30s are having in achieving financial independence.

Most importantly, the recently announced enhancement of the Canada Pension Plan was sold in large part as a way to help the many young adults who do not have company pensions. We also have some fresh voices documenting the problems faced by millennials. I talked to a financial adviser to well-off families for my Carrick on Money video series recently and she said that many parents are helping their adult kids with money because they need the assistance. It's not because parents are soft, or the kids are lazy. Here's some data on millennial incomes to back up this point.

These numbers are presented in an article written by two millennial academics at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. They were motivated to write the piece by the controversial story, presented in this newsletter last week, of a well-off millennial who lives at home so he can afford to travel and indulge himself. "We took a quick look at publicly available data to determine whether our generation is living at home in order to live large," they write. "As it turns out, the suggestion is wildly misplaced."

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Finally, some advice for millennials who are moving back home: consider the financial burden on your parents.

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The complete guide to online banks

A lot of research went into this useful comparison of online banks. We're talking here about banks that are able to offer low fees and high rates because they don't have the overhead of a branch network.

These are the trends Wall Street is watching

The people at Goldman Sachs, the U.S. financial giant, recently issued a list of buzzwords and trends that it thinks its staff should know about. It's a great read for people who want to know what savvy financial minds are focusing on right now.

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Five-year GICs are on the outs

A look at how investors are gravitating to shorter-term guaranteed investment certificates these days. The reason: The trusty five-year rate sometimes isn't the best available. This is a sign of just how weird things are in the economy these days. In normal times, you always get a better rate for locking your money in for longer. I recently wrote about GIC rates for Globe Unlimited subscribers.

The cure for FOMO

Fear of missing out is a hot phrase right now in personal finance. It refers to people spending money to keep up with all the fun their friends and family appear to be having on social media. Here's a credit counsellor's advice on breaking out of the FOMO mindset.

She gave herself permission to earn less

Striving for more balance in her life, a blogger writes about her choice to ramp down her workload at the cost of her earnings.

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Eight things to bring up with your financial adviser

This serves nicely as an agenda for the next time you meet with your adviser. You do meet with your adviser once a year, right?

Today's featured financial tool

I talk a lot about keeping a long-term perspective as an investor. This chart explains why in a very clear way. Check out the long-term stock market returns.

Ask Rob

Let me ask you a question this time. Parents and students, how are you affording the cost of college or university tuition, books and living expenses, if applicable? Help us explain how families are managing post-secondary education costs by completing this short online questionnaire.

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Do you have a question for me? Send it my way. Questions and answers are edited for length.

Featured Video

The Globe and Mail's John Heinzl on where to hold your U.S. dividend stocks – TFSAs, RRSPs, non-registered accounts?

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