You’re a millennial. You want to take on the world, travel, eventually buy a home, build up your savings and start paying off the ungodly amount of student loan debt you have. You’re eager to get started on a financial plan and start taking back control of your life.
You are sick of feeling burdened by the debt you have. You’re ready to take control of your life- but you don’t know where to begin. Do I pay off debt first or build up my savings? I should have been saving for retirement when I was 18 and now I’m in my mid-20s. Do I focus on the smallest debt first or the highest interest rate debt?
Sound familiar?
After working with over 150 people last year, I’m not surprised. These are common questions that confuse a lot of millennials. Here are five tips to help you get started.
Tip 1: Run your credit report.
Go to annualcreditreport.com and run your credit report for free. This is something you should do once a year. You are looking for a few different things: did someone steal your identity and open accounts under your name, are the account balances accurate, and did anything get turned into collections that you didn’t know about? This report will be able to tell you. Note: This will not tell you your score, only your credit history.
Tip 2: Look at your bank statement.
If you haven’t looked at your bank statement, you are missing out on a very powerful exercise. Print it off, grab some coffee and read each transaction. If you get real nerdy highlight each of the extra expenditures and see how much money you really spend. In this case, ignorance is not bliss!
Tip 3: Write down your goals.
What do you really want from your life? Do you want to travel to other countries and get new experiences, or do you want to get married and not depend on your parents for the wedding costs. Whatever it might be write those goals down in as much detail as possible. Clarity is key for goal writing.
Tip 4: Track your day-to-day purchases for 30 days.
Buy a little notebook and write down every single purchase for a solid month. Starbucks at 6 a.m.? Write that down. New tank of gas? Write that down. Diet coke to get your through your night class? Yep- write that down too. You will find that you are a lot more conscientious of your purchases. (Even if it’s only because you don’t want to write another transaction down!)
Tip 5: Hire a coach.
Think about it: if you are new to the gym, you generally hire a personal trainer to help you learn the basics, get the correct form, and provide some accountability (“butt-kicking”). So why wouldn’t you do the same for your finances? Hiring a coach can help you jumpstart your financial journey, while saving you time and money. Try not to be embarrassed about asking for help. Personal finance is something most of us did not learn growing up. Contrary to popular belief, it is not common knowledge- and you should definitely not pretend like it is.
These five tips will get you started. If you need help creating a financial plan and want someone to be your biggest fan, send me an email ([email protected]). We can chat to see if we might be a good fit for each other (the peanut butter to your jelly). Creating a financial plan that you are excited about, and fits your needs is my biggest priority. But, it’s more than just a financial plan; it’s about having someone on your team who truly cares about your success and will follow up to ensure you are getting there.
Start using these tips today and you will be surprised at some of the progress you begin making- almost overnight!
Best,
Ps. Comment below and share some of the tips you use to help you start taking back control of your finances.