Talk to Millennials, and they will tell you: The U.S. economy isn't what it used to be. In some ways, of course, it's actually a lot better. But that's small comfort to young adults who didn't live through previous recessions or other crises. They're coming of age at a time when old assurances about retirement security and American technological supremacy are crumbling. And they're following generations for whom life was much easier – or at least they made it look much easier. "Gen Y is seeing the world change right before their eyes, and they are concerned about their futures," said David Morrison, president of TWENTYSOMETHING Inc., a Philadelphia-based young adult marketing consultancy. "Rightly so – these are freaky times right now."

Many of the 70 million Americans born between 1977 and 2002 grew up questioning the ways of generations before them. Now the Millennials, also known as Generation Y, are asking these questions: Should they be fretting over a housing bubble, the trade deficit or inflation? What about Social Security and energy prices? "They need to be aware of all of those things, but none of those things are things that Gen Yers need to be overly concerned about," said a senior vice president and chief economist of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Maybe so, but such topics are on the minds of young adults today.