Understanding Millennials – Part 1 – Stats and Facts

by | Apr 30, 2019 | Business, Marketing

The topic of millenials is massive and we are going to break it into a multi-part blog. The purpose of this article is to provide the evidence necessary to substantiate the argument that, the millennial generation is currently the most important generation for the future of Professional Tax Preparation.

MILLENNIALS

As much as I (the writer) dislike being lumped in with the millennial generation… begrudgingly I must admit, I am a (cough…) Millennial.  There are so many negative (Narcissistic, Selfie taking, cell phone obsessed, lazy) stereotypes attributed to this generation and unfortunately…Many are accurate.

Nonetheless, they are quickly becoming, if not already the largest living generation.

One of the misconceptions is that they are a bunch of college kids…The reality is much different!

Generation Breakdown

For the sake of context, below are all the generations, their years of birth and age range.

Millennial Facts-

  • Born between 1981-1996. There is some debate around these dates but close is close enough
  • Age 23-38 (About 75 Million)
  • Soon be the largest living generation.
  • By 2025 they will make up 75% of the workforce; AKA taxpayers
  • Average Income = $69,000 according to a Pew Research Center analysis of new census data.
  • They grew up at the same time that technology boomed around us. The first PC being released in 1981
    • Development of the internet in the mid-90s
    • Release of the first iPhone in 2007
      • Everyone has a smartphone!
    • The current social media boom was developed by them and for them!

They account for nearly 50% of Returns Filed

We started diving into the data and found that for RightWay offices, 48.8% of all the returns filed were for Millennials. Let us say that again… Nearly 50 % of the returns you filed were for millennials! For our data set, Millennials had the largest refunds, most likely to choose a bank product and the average age was 31. When you begin to look at macro stats about this group, it becomes very clear that despite their idiosyncrasies, we need to pay very close attention to them!

If we (tax professionals) don’t capture their attention now, good luck trying to get it later.

So, How? Part 2 coming soon.