Imagine going back in time and giving younger you some advice. What would you want to say?

I mean…if I could explain investing and the power of compound interest so I could have started doing all that in kindergarten, I definitely would have 🤓 but I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about some basic financial literacy skills.

Here are a few questions I’d answer for my younger self if I had the chance:

1) YOU NEED AN EMERGENCY FUND

Why Should Creating an Emergency Fund be a Top Priority?

You NEED an emergency fund, and you need one like yesterday.

I know it can feel impossible to save up a few thousand dollars, but this should be the number one financial goal when it comes to adulting. Forego other luxuries until you have this. Trust me, you don’t need that “going out top” for your GNO. Put it back. Any other millennials remember THE going out top?!

We have to expect the unexpected. When the time comes (and it will), having emergency fund cash stashed away for whatever that stressful thing is will make it much, much more bearable.

How much do you need? Well, that totally depends on your own situation. I have a free Emergency Fund Calculator so you can figure out what is right for you.

2) NEGOTIATE YOUR PAY ALWAYS

How to Negotiate Your Pay Rate

Always, and I mean always, negotiate your pay. This can feel super scary, especially if you’re desperate for that job.

But guess what: they expect you to negotiate! Nobody ever comes in with their highest and best offer. Our instincts sometimes say, “Sounds perfect!” when an offer is made, but take a deep breath and either

1) Counteroffer with the salary you were hoping for and based on the research you’ve done for the role or

2) If you get nervous in the moment: Thank them for their offer and tell them you will consider it and get back to them

Companies come in low, anticipating that you’ll counter. When you don’t, they get one heck of a bargain, and you end up underpaid. WOMP WOMP. You deserve to be fairly compensated for your work. You are worth it. Remember that.

Side note: Remember that you can negotiate other things besides base salary: Higher bonus, signing bonus, PTO, remote work, RSUs, etc etc.

3) START INVESTING NOW

At What Age Should You Start Investing Your Money?

Whatever your current age is, BINGO. Even if you don’t have a lot of it, just do it! 

There are many huge misconceptions as it relates to investing, but a few common ones are:

>> I need a lot of money to start investing

>> Investing is complicated and time-consuming

>> Only rich people invest

These are lies, my friend. If you don’t know what you’re doing, that’s okay. It’s just learning the new terms, really, though. Imagine if you’d given up learning ABCs as a kid. You wouldn’t be able to read or write or probably have a job at all. Look at investing as the ABCs of adulthood. We’ll start with the basics when it comes to investing: open a Roth IRA, pick an index fund or two, and invest a little money. You’ll learn more over the months and years — and that money? It’ll be doing big things for you in the background thanks to our BFF compound interest! 

Check out my next free investing class to learn basic investing skills!

4) LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS

How to Live Below Your Means

I know your paycheck hit last Friday, and you’ve been eyeing that new Lululemon set; your friends invited you out for the third night this week — which you will get major FOMO if you don’t attend — and even though you just went grocery shopping, Chipotle sounds way better. I don’t care if the extra guac is like $77 at this point; give it to me, baby! 😛

Just because you have the cash sitting in your account doesn’t mean you should go spend it! It’s a balance between living today and preparing for future you. This is really where creating a budget can be handy — I know the “B-word” gets a bad rap, but it’s how you can do both!

I’m not saying forgo all fun things, but it comes down to spending that hard earned cash intentionally. Take a step back and make a plan for your money before it hits your account and you get blinded by the comma in your bank account.

5) GIVE YOURSELF GRACE

What Does it Mean to Give Yourself Grace?

You can be really hard on yourself, but don’t compare yourself to others! We are our own worst critics, right? Your personal finance journey is not their personal finance journey. Your life is not their life. You don’t have the same type of help (ayo, no parents club), so it’s not even an equal comparison. We only see people at face value, but at the end of the day, we’re really comparing apples to oranges because everyone has their own adventure.

You’re going to make lots of mistakes (and I mean lots), but you’re also going to learn quickly from those mistakes. You’re going to dust yourself off and go from surviving to THRIVING!

Wrapping Up

We could all benefit from a little Ghost of Christmas past situation in our lives. But the reality is, we can’t go back in time and tell our former selves what we know now. 

What we can do is start NOW, though. No more putting it off. We can give the future versions of ourselves a gift by learning the stuff about money they didn’t teach us in school and making one smarter financial decision at a time (and be patient with ourselves because it WILL be a process). Doing this will allow us to set ourselves up for wealth and financial security going forward. And there ain’t no peace like financial peace, my friend.

If one of your goals has been to increase your wealth and retire one day (and whose isn’t?!), check out my free investing guide! It will teach you the order of operations as it relates to investing: Which accounts make the most sense to invest in and when?

You’ve got this, and you aren’t alone. I for one, am cheering you on 🎉