You Only Live Once AND Fear of Missing Out · YOLO: Taking advantage of the life experiences as they present themselves within the context of a ...BacktoallPostsYOLOvs.FOMO:YouDon’tHavetoChooseBetweenLivingLifeNowandBeingPreparedforRetirementLater—inFact,YouShouldn’tCodyCassidy,CFP®Mar23,2021Ifthereisanythingthatthispastdecadehastaughtus,it’sthatmillennialsshouldnotbeallowedtousesocialmedia.Wehavecreatedsomeseriouslyannoyingtrends.Towit,YOLOandFOMOaretwosuchexamplesthatwearenevergoingtolivedown.Ignoringourobnoxiousneedtocreateandsharetrendingmemes,thereissomethingtobesaidofthesetwoattitudes,YouOnlyLiveOnceandFearofMissingOut.Thismodernday—Ididnotsaywell-represented—Shakespeareandichotomyplaysitselfoutinanynumberoffashions,andespeciallyformillennialswhoareatacriticalstageinlifeinwhichtheyarebeginningtorealizetheirearningpotentialatthesametimeasbeingstraddledwithcrushingamountsofdebtandafartoodistantbutmuchtoorealistic,andimpossibletoignore,retirementplan.Itisatoughroadtonavigate.Howarewesupposedtoknowifweareheadedintherightdirection,goingatagoodspeed,orevenwhatourultimatedestinationis?YouDon’tWanttoMissOutontheMarketAccordingtoNerdWallet,70%ofAmericaninvestorsexperiencedregretovertheirinvestmentstrategyin2019.Thepenultimateyearinahistoricdecadewasoneofthebestofthe2010s,withtheS&P500Indexfinishingup28%(thestrongestsince2013),theNASDAQup35%,andtheDowJonesgaining22%.Toughtobeupsetaboutthosenumbers.Thesamecanbesaidabout2020,theyearthatwillbeforeveritsveryownmeme,despiteeverythingthathappenedontheworldstage.TheS&P500Indexreturnedmorethan15%andtheDowJones6.8%.But35%percentofinvestorswishtheyhadinvestedmorein2019,andALOTofpeopleareupsetthattheygotoutaltogetherin2020.Ofcourse,everyoneisgoingtowanttotakeadvantageofastrongmarketyear,butitbegsthequestion:Howmuchshouldmillennialsbeinvestingforthefutureattheexpenseoflivingtheirlifenowwhentheyareenteringintotheirpeakearningyears?AskaBabyBoomer,especiallyafinancialplanner,andtheanswerisunsurprisinglysimple:saveasmuchasyoucannowforth