Millennial adults represent a generation that is going through a lot of milestones and “firsts” in their live. This can be a wedding, the birth of a child, the purchase of a home or a new job. In turn, they are also facing specific financial challenges, which, combined with inflation and high rates, can be difficult to navigate.
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When it comes to millennial entrepreneurs, they have an additional set of business and financial challenges to face and said that there are certain policies that they would like to see under a Donald Trump administration. Here are some of them:
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Easing Regulations
Most millennials are in their prime earning years and have been hit doubly hard by the pandemic and inflation impacting their earning power, said Brenda Christensen, a self-made millionaire and CEO, Stellar Public Relations.
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In turn, she said that a Trump presidency would likely reduce inflation by easing regulations on business with savings passed down to consumers.
In addition, Christensen — who worked with Trump while working in PR for The Taubman Company — said that he’s a calculated risk taker and understands the business world implicitly, including entrepreneurship where millennials are in large numbers.
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“For example, during his previous administration, his policies reduced burdens on businesses by eliminating taxes and other restrictions, such as loosening FINRA [Financial Industry Regulation Authority] rules which benefitted not only the tech sector and VC [venture capital] funding but overall economic growth,” she added.
Regulation That Makes it Easier to Access Financial and Investing Tools And Broader Use of Crypto
“I think we are living in too much of a top-down, centralized financial system. The cost of investing is too high for a huge percentage of the population, especially for millennials and Gen Z folks,” said Rebecca Liao, CEO of Saga, who also served on Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy team for her 2016 presidential campaign, responsible for Asia trade and economic policy.
As Liao noted, many of them are working part-time or gig jobs that don’t feature 401ks and other automated investment systems for their retirement and most don’t contribute to Roth IRAs.
In turn, she argued that one financial policy Trump could implement is regulation that makes it easier to access financial and investing tools.
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“Crypto is one of the tools for decentralizing our economy and providing fairer, more readily available tools for access to novel financial products that, in turn, are likely to experience relatively greater upside, albeit with more volatility along the way,” she added, noting that making investing in the broader crypto realm more permissible and compliant would be a solid step in the right direction.
Other experts echoed the sentiment saying that this cohort needs crypto friendly policies.
“There are thousands of entrepreneurs developing ideas with world-changing potential using blockchain. They won’t stop, they will simply choose a country with the friendliest policies, where they will make a lot of money and employ a lot of people,” said Mel Gelderman, CEO and co-founder at token.com.
Regulation Helping Consumer Sector Millennial Entrepreneurs-Such as Not Tax on Tips
According to Nick Gausling, a millennial entrepreneur, consumer sector consultant, and managing director of Romy Group, many millennial entrepreneurs outside tech run consumer sector businesses, but the American consumer is “close to tapped out.”
“Trump reviving the No Tax on Tips proposal pioneered by Ron Paul is a big win for these entrepreneurs,” said Gausling.
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He argued that first, ending taxation on tips would be a massive direct stimulus for many service workers, especially in lower tax brackets.
“Since every service worker is also a consumer, that stimulus would spill over and improve revenues for businesses across the consumer sector,” he said.
In addition, he noted that this policy could also bring new innovation in labor modeling and better customer service.
“Many consumers are tired of tipping culture run rampant, but if entrepreneurs combined lower base wages with lower retail prices, tax-free tipping could yield higher overall net income for service workers, better customer experience at lower cost for consumers, and more sales and customer retention for entrepreneurs,” he added.
Reducing Taxes for Small Businesses
Trump could introduce several policies benefiting millennial entrepreneurs including the focus on reducing taxes for small businesses, which is key in this case, said Adam, CEO, Ferrari Phoenix Capital Group.
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“Lowering corporate tax rates, as seen during Trump’s first term, can free up capital that entrepreneurs can reinvest into their businesses, whether it’s for hiring, expanding operations, or investing in new technologies,” he added.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Millennial Entrepreneurs: 4 Financial Policies We Want Under a Trump Administration
Reader question: My spouse has little interest in our financial position. As we age, this concerns me. I try to share some basic information (income, spending, account balances, debt, and so on) each month but rarely get a response. I think graphs or charts might be of more interest to her than a bunch of numbers. What recommendations would you have for illustrating our financial position so that I am not the only person aware of how we are situated? Thanks!
Answer: Your situation is pretty common. Most couples I know develop a division of labor over time, where one person is in charge of financial matters and the other person is less involved. That’s definitely the case for my husband and me. He’s in charge of paying all the monthly bills and preparing our tax returns, but the financial planning and investment decisions are up to me. This type of arrangement might work well for a long time, but can become less sustainable with age, particularly if the “finance person” in the relationship dies or develops a major health issue.
Online tools and mind maps
Illustrating your financial situation with charts and graphs is a great idea that might help your spouse become a little more involved. Morningstar’s Portfolio X-Ray tool includes a variety of images that help illustrate your financial situation. Websites for most major brokerage firms also include some visual tools. Schwab, for example, offers a Portfolio Checkup and a bar graph illustrating your account’s monthly income from dividends and interest income. Vanguard has a Portfolio Watch tool and a variety of performance illustrations, tools, and calculators.
A mind map, which we used with clients when I worked for a financial advisory firm, can be another way to picture your entire financial situation on one page. There are various softwaretemplates for drawing a mind map, or you can simply sketch it out with a large sheet of paper and a pencil. Start with your names at the center of the page. Then draw spokes connecting to various categories, such as names of other family members; investment accounts; real estate and other assets, insurance policies, estate plans, key goals and values, and contact information for accountants, estate planners, and other professionals. It can be helpful to go through the mind map together and make any updates needed at least once a year.
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Other ways to communicate about money
A few other ideas—though not related to charts and graphs—might also be useful.
I like the idea of putting together a net worth statement that itemizes cash, taxable accounts, real estate, retirement accounts, and debt for each member of the couple as well as items owned jointly. It’s a good idea to update this document at least once a year and discuss it as a couple. If you set up the document as a spreadsheet, you can include columns with additional information such as account numbers, what each account is used for, which accounts are subject to required minimum distributions, or tax issues like potential capital gains.
Many couples also put together a binder (sometimes humorously called a “Doomsday Book”) that contains information about where to find important paperwork, insurance policies, how bills are paid, what each account is for, steps the surviving spouse will need to take, final wishes, and any other critical information.
A well-qualified financial adviser can bridge the information gap
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Finally, you could consider working with a good financial adviser, who can help involve your spouse in financial matters while you’re still living and step in to fully manage investments and personal finance decisions if you pass away before your spouse. Make sure the adviser holds the Certified Financial Planner designation and charges fees that are reasonable. Although a 1% fee is still the industry standard for accounts of $1 million or less, it’s possible to find advisers who charge significantly less, including a few who price their services based on hours worked instead of a percentage of assets under management.
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This article was provided to The Associated Press by Morningstar. For more personal finance content, go to https://www.morningstar.com/personal-finance.
Amy C. Arnott, CFA, is a portfolio strategist for Morningstar and co-host of The Long View podcast.
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Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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If you have ever taken out a mortgage, you’ll know there are a lot of requirements to meet. You may need to put down a certain amount and have a debt-to-income ratio below a certain threshold. You may also run into limits on how much you can borrow or what sources of income the lender will count.
These rules do not apply to all mortgages — just to conforming mortgages, which is what the majority of borrowers take out. However, mortgage lenders are increasingly offering what are known as nonconforming loans, or mortgages that do not “comply with every one of the strict standards put in place after the housing crisis,” said The Wall Street Journal. While “still a small portion,” the “share of mortgages using alternative lending practices” has “doubled in size over the past three years.”
What are nonconforming loans?
A nonconforming mortgage is a “type of home loan that doesn’t meet some or all of the guidelines that make them eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Bankrate. These are the government-sponsored entities that “support much of the secondary mortgage market in the U.S.,” meaning they often purchase resold mortgages.
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Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have “federal rules that limit the purchase of loans deemed relatively risk-free,” said Investopedia. Loans that meet these guidelines are conforming loans; loans that do not are nonconforming. To be a conforming loan, a mortgage must fall under a certain loan amount, and the borrower must meet specific criteria when it comes to their credit score, debt-to-income ratio and loan-to-value ratio.
Effectively, any home loan that does not align with these stipulations is considered nonconforming. Examples include jumbo loans, government-backed loans, bridge loans and interest-only loans.
Why do people get them?
There are a wide range of reasons people may opt for a nonconforming mortgage. For one, “you may have no choice but to choose a nonconforming jumbo loan if you want to buy an expensive property,” said Rocket Mortgage. These loans can also provide more flexibility when it comes to the type of property you purchase, your credit score and your down payment amount.
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Nonconforming loans additionally “offer an opportunity for home buyers who might not otherwise qualify for traditional loans because they are self-employed or hold their wealth in assets such as real estate,” said the Journal.
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What are the drawbacks?
For starters, there are fewer lenders offering them “since they pose a higher risk to the bank or mortgage lender,” said Yahoo Finance. That said, availability can vary depending on the specific type, as “some nonconforming loans (like FHA mortgages) are common, while others (like USDA loans) can be harder to find.”
Nonconforming loans also “generally carry a higher interest rate for the borrower,” said the Journal, given the increased risk to the lender. Still, this can vary by loan type. For instance, “FHA, VA and USDA loans usually have lower interest rates,” while “less common nonconforming loans, such as bridge loans, often have higher interest rates,” said Yahoo Finance. There is also the possibility that a nonconforming loan “could have an unusual repayment schedule or other features that make it harder to repay,” said Bankrate.
