More millennials are financially secure than you think, and some are stepping in to support parents and older family members

Millennials are often made fun of for their spending habits, but many are doing well and even supporting family members through financial challenges.

• Millennials aren't a monolith; while some feel behind financially, others say they're thriving.
• Younger generations sometimes rely on family for financial support, but the opposite is also true.
• This article is part of "My Financial Life," a series helping people live and spend better.

Millennials are often criticized for their money management, and while it's true that many of them feel financially insecure and priced out of the housing market, the generation is hardly a monolith. Many millennials are flourishing right now, building wealth and striving toward their own version of financial security.

It's common to find headlines about millennials and Gen Zers relying on their family for financial support, but they're not always on the receiving end of the equation. In many cases, millennials are giving back to their parents or grandparents who are facing financial challenges.

Helping a parent pay off debt

When Jose Gomez, 32, learned his father had racked up a significant amount of debt from loans, he knew he had to help.

"He was stressed because he was working borderline seven days a week in order to pay for all that accumulating debt," Gomez said. "When I found out how much interest he was paying, I was like, 'No, hold on.'"

Gomez liquidated his assets and gave money to his dad to help pay off the loans.

He's experienced homelessness and said that had shaped the way he viewed money. It made him an aggressive saver, but it also drove him to be more empathic and to want to give back when given the opportunity.

"My father has been the sole provider and put me through college," Gomez said. "He didn't let me get a job in high school so that I could focus on studying for a better outcome in life."

Gomez added that he wanted to help his father after everything he had done to support him.

"My father's reaction was of pure relief," he said.

Gomez said that once the loans were paid off, his father's mental health and state of happiness improved drastically.

Navigating borrowing from family

After his father died in 2021, Steven M. Hughes, 37, and his siblings decided to put together a monthly contribution to help cover their mother's household expenses. Hughes also sets aside some money each year for a fund to help other family members.

"I would fund an account at the beginning of the year, and then if anyone in the family asked me to borrow money, it would come out of the family fund," Hughes said.

He said he started the family fund so he wouldn't feel bad for asking for money back and to create a communal way of giving to others.

"If they paid it back, it would go back into the family fund," Hughes said. "If they didn't, then I would replenish the fund until the top of the year."

Growing up, Hughes said people around him didn't talk much about money: "I made a lot of money missteps because I just didn't have the experience, whether it's talking about it or being around it."

However, he's changed the way he views money. He learned more about it and became a financial therapist. He also created connections with people who were open to having conversations about money topics such as saving and investing.

"I think money has always been a taboo topic in the United States," Hughes said. "But I think that millennials — and I also credit Gen Z — are just taking the training wheel off from the money conversations and saying, 'Hey, we have to talk about this.'"

Continuing a family legacy

Britni' Choice-Cartwright, 37, is the third generation of her family's funeral business. After obtaining an undergraduate degree, she joined the business to help her grandmother overcome financial difficulties.

Choice-Cartwright's grandmother had refinanced her home to assist another person and had to deal with the back-to-back deaths of immediate family members. Her grandmother retired after 45 years in the business, she said, but wasn't personally prepared to navigate her finances, causing her house to go into foreclosure.

Choice-Cartwright knew she could assist. While her grandmother was reluctant to receive help at first and change her approach, Choice-Cartwright stepped in and taught her grandmother how to leverage assets to pay off debt. She knew she had to help her navigate her finances.

As an advocate for generational wealth, Choice-Cartwright knew she had to help when she saw the possibility of her family's funeral-home business ending.

She said she has been working through the process by using loans and grants. She's also developed a network in which she can bounce ideas off others and ask questions.

"There are millennials who are making a difference, who are hitting the ground running," she said. "They are succeeding, they are excelling, and they look just like me a lot of the time."