Young Americans today face a tight job market, rising costs of higher education and related increase in student loans, an uncertain housing market, and the continued movement away from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. Earlier access to credit has resulted in many young adults carrying unmanageable levels of credit card debt. And, Americans ages 18-34 represent the largest age cohort of Americans without health insurance.

68% of AARP members state that they are providing some level of financial support to their adult age children – from gas/groceries, to health insurance premiums, to home down payments. And among these, 70% did not expect to be doing so at this point in their lives.

It is against this challenging backdrop that AARP has created LifeTuner, an online personal finance community site born out of a growing recognition that young adults need to take a much more active role than previous generations in planning and preparing for their own financial security. It is a site that promotes financial literacy, which research has shown to have a strong link to retirement planning and readiness.

AARP worked for over a year with 400+ young adults, ages 22-34, in a private online community to help shape the vision and components of its LifeTuner initiative. Its extensive research with young adults (and their parents and grandparents) indicates a need for unbiased information (the target values AARP’s nonprofit status), guidance, and advice in all aspects of personal finance, especially as it relates to major life events.

LifeTuner.org brings together practical, unbiased advice from volunteer financial experts with a community of peers and individuals who’ve been there before -- all of whom can share their experiences and learn from each other. It offers tools, tips, articles and real-life stories and also features “8 habits,” a proven set of behaviors that can help anyone greatly improve their chances of achieving strong financial health.