About
This blog was intended for some younger people in my life, specifically my daughters who graduated from college (2005 and 2007) and have jobs in the field of their choice (Congrats!!). I also started talking to other young folks in my life who didn’t know what to do with their money or how to start saving and investing. My intended audience was:
- single
- in your twenties
- just finishing college
- have no inheritance
- getting married soon
- paying your own bills
- have some school loan debt
- don’t want to figure it out all by yourself
- have no “extra” money from any additional sources
- you’re a “bootstrapped” individual and not a “funded” individual
- currently working in some kind of form that you are compensated for
- currently looking for work that applies to what you’ve studied in college to improve your financial resources, acquire health insurance and all the other stuff that goes with working like a 401k, 403b, etc.
However, this can also apply to savers and investors of all ages. Whether you’re in your teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and even 60s, I have to say, “It’s never too late to start saving and investing”!! YOU have to do it!! YOU have to get started!!
I’ve consolidated saving and investing into three actions. If you can do all three, that’s great. If you can only do one of the three actions, then that’s great too. The more you do now, the better off you’ll be later.
Those three actions include setting up an automatic online savings account for your “rainy day” or “emergency fund” money. Participating in your employer’s retirement plan which is a forced automatic investment plan and is typically a tax-deferred account. Last, kicking up your wealth accumulation a knotch by opening and investing in a Roth IRA automatically over a long period of time.
When it comes to saving and investing, there are many scenarios and situations that might determine how you save and invest. There is also a personal belief system that will guide you as well and hopefully not hinder you from saving and investing.
I’m not a certified or degreed investment advisor or financial planner. However, I highly recommend you use someone like that if you need help. I am someone who has had that “long time” (25+ years) and still have some “long time” (25+ years) left to save and invest.
When I was growing up, it looked like I was raised in a middle-income home. However, later in life I found out that everything was leveraged to the hilt. My parents did everything they could to buy and keep a nice house, keep food on the table, buy us nice clothes, go on vacations, and plenty of stuff to keep us entertained.
I’ve made some good and bad saving and investing decisions. However, when you make bad saving and investment decisions in your youth, you at least have time to recover. If you’ve made bad investment choices anytime, there’s no time like the present to change them.
I’m a ham ‘n egger (an average Joe), and I’m here to tell you, start early by contributing often and automatically to your saving and investing plan and you’ll do just fine.
Bill Stevens
billstevens2000@gmail.com
