Gen Y

When you hit the big 3-0, it's officially time to grow up. Business Insider suggests you do this by taking your blindfold off and stop lying to yourself about money.

I'm not quite 30 yet, but I'm more than familiar with the notion that this age is the new benchmark for people to get their lives together.

There are books, blogs, and Twitter accounts dedicated solely to helping people cross that line in the best shape for their future. They do this by telling you to get rid of debt, stop shopping so much, start a 401(k), and brace yourself for wrinkles. 

Related: How This Writer Rescued Herself From Financial Ruin

But in my opinion, it takes a lot more than a healthy bank account and nice skin to live a full and happy life, whether you're 29 or 59. Most of us know how to succeed; we just happen to let ourselves — and a few convenient lies — get in the way.

So long as my job pays well, it's OK if I hate it.

The job market may not be what it used to be, but by age 30 no one should be toiling away at a job that leaves them stressed out and dissatisfied with life.

We were inspired by a young woman who wrote about turning her back on a lucrative job on Wall Street when years of 14-hour workdays made her overweight, burnt out, and miserable. 

Read on for more.

When you are new to the workforce, you will quickly learn that entry-level positions do require you to prove your worth and dedication to the company. Aka, working a lot of overtime. You want to be sure that you are taking care of yourself and your life outside of work, so that you remain energized, happy, and motivated. Implement our savvy tips so that you can feel your best self in and outside of the office.

1. Stay focused while at work. Use the Pomodoro Technique to time your productivity. It's so easy to migrate away from your work to check your email or browse the web, which just drains you of your energy and time. If you concentrate only on one task for 25 minutes, you're more likely to complete your work in an eight-hour day rather than take it home with you.
2. Complete a daily achievement and something pleasurable. Jim Bird, the publisher of WorkLifeBalance.com recommends that every day you should be saying, "I just want to achieve something today and I want to enjoy something today. And if I do both of those things today, I'm going to have a pretty good day. And if I do both of those things every day for the rest of my life, I'm going to have a pretty good life."

Read more work-life balance tips.

More and more young people are getting burned out before the age of 30. LearnVest offers ways to prevent the dreaded burnout.

Symptom #1: You look forward to your mid-afternoon snack in order to break up your workday.

Symptom #2: You’re critical or impatient with your cubicle-mate.

Symptom #3: You feel like you should be working more efficiently at the office, and that there aren’t enough hours in the day.

Diagnosis? It could be a standard case of the good ol’ Monday blues . . . or you could be on the path to burnout.

Burnout is a psychological stress syndrome that occurs as a “response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job.” Besides feelings of excessive stress, burnout can ruin personal relationships and cause fatigue, insomnia, depression and anxiety.

RELATED: 6 Steps to Achieving Work-Life Purpose

What’s worse? It may be spreading through Gen Y women like wildfire.

What’s Going On

Larissa Faw, a Forbes writer, claims that burnout among under-30 women is pandemic. Pointing to McKinsey research, she writes that while 53% of entry-level corporate jobs go to women, they make up only 37% of mid-management and just 26% go on to become vice-presidents and senior managers. Meanwhile, men are twice as likely to advance at every stage.

The culprit? Faw says that women may “have simply reached their breaking point after spending their childhoods developing well-rounded résumés.” Additionally, many women may have had unrealistic expectations about the working world, including the long hours demanded of them and the “day-to-day drudgery,” which may come as a shock after college.

Read on for more.

Many graduates are about to enter the workforce for the first time. It can be a happy and confusing experience. A steep learning slope lies ahead for job newbies, and one of things they'll need to get a hang of is the professional terms people use. Here's a basic guide that will help you feel less overwhelmed with all the corporate lingo.

PTO: Paid time off is the amount of hours allotted to an employee for time off work with pay. It's common for PTO days to include sick days as well, but there are some companies that separate both.

401(k): A 401(k) is a free retirement savings plan sponsored by employers. Money is taken from your paycheck before taxes are deducted so you will be investing what's called pretax money in the retirement plan. Occasionally, employers "match" your contribution, which means they will also add money to your retirement account. It's best to start contributing as early as you can. Read more about retirement plans to figure out a good saving strategy.

Floating holiday: A floating holiday is basically similar to a PTO — you can take time off and still get paid for it.

Brainstorm: A brainstorm is a discussion among a group of people to generate ideas or figure out solutions to problems. It's often better to prepare before a brainstorm and write down a few ideas before heading in so that you know you'll be contributing to the discussions.

HR: Human resources is basically a part of the company that focuses on the well-being of employees and the paperwork it takes to retain them. The department has responsibilities that can include filtering job applicants, calculating raises, fielding complaints, and raising company morale.

HMO or PPO: HMO and PPO are two of the most common types of health insurance plans. Find out which plan is right for you based on needs and preferences.

Read on for more.

Becoming completely financially independent can be scary, but it's also very liberating. Kiplinger gives advice on how to establish your financial independence.

Not only is it difficult for us twentysomethings to wholeheartedly embrace adulthood, it's often also a challenge for our parents to let us go. Baby-boomer parents are generally known for mollycoddling their children, even after we move out of the house and into our own adult lives. Some parents have shown up for their kids' job interviews, and others have called up human resource departments at their adult kids' workplaces to complain about bad performance reviews or to negotiate salaries on behalf of their children.

They may mean well, but such extreme helicopter parents are actually hindering their children from growing into independent adults. "If a child is receiving too much help, then they have no incentive to succeed or become independent," says Erin Baehr, of the financial planning firm Baehr Family Financial, in Stroudsburg, Pa. "They may also be setting themselves up for some possible financial trouble down the road."

We certainly don't want that. At the same time, as young adults, we shouldn't be so dead set on finding our independence that we end up punishing ourselves by turning down valuable financial guidance and support from Mom and Dad.

So how about meeting in the middle? You can stay open to your parents' assistance but also set limits on how involved in your life you want them to be. For example, when it comes to parental career advice, Marty Martin, a financial psychologist at Aequus Wealth Management Resources, in Chicago, suggests you say, "Mom and Dad, I would really appreciate any advice you may have before I go to my job interview, and I will contact you after it happens. But I really need to do this on my own."

Read on for more.

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

As young adults, many of us enjoy a unique time in our lives when we can relocate wherever we like. We’re often free from any significant ties, such as kids or a mortgage, that can tether us to a certain location. Plus, with the technological advances of the past decade, we need not fear losing touch with family and friends; we can stay connected with the touch of a button — regardless of distance.

So when the world is your oyster, how do you decide in which part to settle? Here are six questions to ask when figuring out which city is best for you:

Will I find good work there?

In today's tough market, Generation Y has had a particularly difficult time finding and keeping a job: While the job market struggles to regain its footing, with the national unemployment rate at 9.5% as of June, 25- to 34-year-olds suffer joblessness at a 10.3% rate, and 20- to 24-year-olds are unemployed at a staggering 15.3% rate. But some areas have held up better against the recession. Austin, Tex., Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C., for example, have experienced lower unemployment than the rest of the country.

Jobs in certain industries are more prevalent in some areas. For example, if you’re interested in politics, the nation’s capital is the obvious choice. Or if you aspire to “make it work” as fashion’s next hot designer, the Big Apple might suit you best. If you have no particular trade in mind yet, look to big cities with opportunities in a wide range of fields. (For career ideas that promise a bright future, see 13 Careers for the Next Decade.)

Read on for more.

We're thrilled to present this smart LearnVest story here on Savvy!

We remember those days long ago — or not so long ago — when we thought the only thing standing between us and a great night out was a fake I.D., and the days when every hurt could be soothed with a new pair of shoes.

Until now, we’d always chalked those notions up to our own youthful silliness, but it turns out we weren’t alone: According to a recent study, 20-year-olds actually think that having debt is cool.

“The more credit card and college loan debt held by young adults aged 18 to 27, the higher their self-esteem,” the researchers concluded. Only that effect didn’t last long: By the time participants in the study reached age 28, their feelings of mastery and empowerment had corroded into stress over the money they owed.

Surely celebrating your debt isn’t the only habit worth kicking by the time you near 30. So, we asked you, what other habits that seemed cool, empowering and fun at 20 did you drop like a hot potato a few years later?

Your answers, which ranged from money choices to lifestyle mistakes, were hilarious, insightful . . . and a testament to the power of experience. Read on.

Fake Baking

If You're Doing This: Don’t waste your hard-earned money on cancer-causing tanning beds, which can come back to bite you later in health care bills—or worse. Tan safely (here’s some advice on sunless tanning), or, better yet, emulate Anne Hathaway, who makes pale skin look chic.

Read on for more bad habits.

We're thrilled to present this smart Kiplinger story here on Savvy!

The recent market twisters may have you scrambling for shelter for your portfolio. According to online brokerage Betterment.com, during the market mayhem of early August, investors under age 35 were one-third more likely than older investors to move from stocks to bonds.

During the week of August 8, the first trading days following the downgrade of U.S. debt by rating agency Standard & Poor’s, the Dow Jones industrial average nauseated all onlookers — diving as much as 635 points, or 5.6%, on Monday, only to climb by as much as 430 points, or 4.0%, the next day.

But none of this is reason to panic — especially for young investors like us.

Our youth not only affords us fewer wrinkles and faster metabolisms, it also allows us a higher risk tolerance for investments. “When you’re young, if there’s a major market setback, you still have time to hit your wealth targets,” says Dr. Walt Woerheide, PhD, CFP, ChFC, professor of investments at The American College, a non-profit school for financial services professionals.

Also, we’ll need stocks’ potential rate of return to try to beat inflation over the long term, says Kimberly Foss, a financial planner and founder of Empyrion Wealth Management, in Roseville, Cal. She likens the situation to trying to go up a down escalator: “If you just go on, you’ll go backward; if you walk up at a mild pace, you’re not going to make your goal,” she says. “You need [stocks’] rapid pace, which is higher than inflation, to make your goal.”

Here are answers to some questions you may have about the market mayhem — and some sound lessons you can take away from the madness to get ahead in the long run:

What should I be doing with my portfolio now?

The short answer: not much. As shown by the aforementioned day-to-day Dow movements, knee-jerk reactions to current events are generally futile — and often counterproductive for your portfolio. Young investors who traded stocks for bonds as the market dove lost out when it bounced right back. Your best bet is always to stick with your long-term investing plan.

Read on to learn more about investing.