If you’ve listened to the Adulting Is Easy podcast, you know my goal for this site is to educate young people (like my high-school-age sister) about personal finance because managing money is a big part of “adulting,” and making that easier makes adulting a bit easier as well.
I did some online searching, then took to social media to see what others say when asked, “What is the best personal finance advice ever given to you?” See below how well the social comments align with the online content.
Themes from my online searches:
Spend less than you earn (or some say, live below your means)
Pay off your credit cards
Stick to a budget
Know what you earn and what you spend
Save (in general), and some say to pay yourself first
Save for retirement
Invest
Have goals
Have an emergency fund
Learning about finance is up to you
Don’t compare yourself to others
Avoid lifestyle creep
Results from Twitter:
@Greger97110439: Avoid consumer debt
@RobertFrickNFCU: Do things automatically - saving, paying down debt, paying bills, etc.
@GGEatWorld: 401Ks aren’t what they used to be, spread your money across multiple streams and review your rates annually
@SenseofDollars: Investing into index funds! Realizing this "lazy" strategy is the best, no worries about diversification, returns, researching, etc. And a bonus is having it automated!
@OKCUCardGuy: "We buy things that we don't need with money that we don't have to impress people that we don't like"
@NealWatson: Spend less than what you earn, and ALWAYS pay your credit card bill IN FULL each month.
@ElyssaJK: You know how to google, you know how to learn, you’re learning to change behaviors. Now apply all that to your finances and watch what happens
@TheM2MPodcast: Open a ROTH IRA
@9tolife1: Work for yourself!! That can mean a lot of different things, but fundamentally, you should have various streams of income.
@moneyeducator: Work. Earn. Invest, wash, rinse, repeat. Your greatest ability to generate wealth lies here and the longer/greater you invest now, the less you'll have work and earn later.
@FiveStepFinance: It’s not about how much you make but how much you spend.
@Lento321: Save your money
@TheDelaDarling: When you’re jealous of what someone else has (new car, expensive vacation, etc) think about how they’re paying for it and you probably won’t be jealous anymore
@HJudeBoudreaux: Be clear about your goals. Lots of small opportunities to spend and it's hard to constantly be saying no to yourself. If you have a really big yes, it gets a lot easier to make those small choices.
@OneCricketeer: Track it all.
@Wealthy_we: Pay yourself first. To make sure that you are contributing a specified amount of money into your savings account from your paycheck every month.
@juliaccarreon: From your very first job starting with your first paycheck, enroll in the 401K program. It's money you won't miss b/c you won't have ever seen it.
@Profitpeep: Clean your room, do your dishes, and do well in school. You can't hold onto money if you're unorganized, ignorant, and spoiled. #school #responsibility #discipline #FinancialFreedom
@FatherwithCents: Save as much as possible. Learn to save and know where to invest it!
@debtfre94668298: Pay my bills when I have the money, often it’s before it is due
@junkiemarket: Leave emotions out of trading for they will affect your decision making. Never fall in love with a stock, it will blind you.
@Idabbleinfire: Immediately put a portion of your paycheck into savings on payday.
@amazing38979523: SPEND<EARN SAVE>SPEND INVEST AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
@FI_imagineer: Money is not the goal, but it's merely the tool necessary to empower us to FIRE-up our life and dreams.
@JohnnyMExpl: In trading as in life you must first protect your downside
@posenergyguy: Get your money to “work” for you by buying assets.
@JuC_Jay: Saving money in your bank account that doesn’t keep up with inflation. You are losing money.
Results from Facebook:
N: Pay the interest on your student loans monthly while in school
KA: Setting up a separate bank account with partial direct deposit from check that I don’t see daily or touch to accumulate savings. And picking a high yield savings account for that.
A: Max out tax-exempt and deferred options like 401k contribution/HSA/college funds etc. It’s a double win, less income tax plus more future savings. And use free tracking tools like MINT and the tools offers by your bank to save
C: Make an extra mortgage payment each year to reduce term of loan and interest expense in long run.
KK: Buy a house.
S: The best advice I ever got was from you- calculate your retirement needs and make sure you’re on track to get there.
Do you have advice to add? Let me know on Twitter (@AdultingIsEasy) or realadultingiseasy@gmail.com.
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