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Today was a good day.
I was at work after-hours waiting for an event to finish out, and sitting next to me was a 20-year-old. He asked a few questions that made it clear he was working on his finances, and over the course of a half-hour he started asking very direct questions about credit cards, budgeting, investing, and so on... So I had the enjoyable opportunity of talking to him about stocks & bonds, mutual funds, risk vs. reward, savings accounts, and retirement accounts. By the time the event had wrapped up, we had set him up to get his Roth TSP started in one of their Lifecycle funds, and got his tax withholding adjusted to reduce his tax return (down from about $2k) such that his TSP contributions won't even impact his take-home pay. Sure, he's only starting with $100/mo (5% of pay), but it's a start.
What was really encouraging was how excited he was about it all. He was taking copious notes, asking very specific questions about what he can do, and asking for books & such that he might read to learn more. He's in the exact same place I was when I started learning about finances (20 y/o earning not a whole lot), and it's honestly a bit like déjà vu. He said he was going to come back periodically to ask more questions, and I hope he does. I really hope that I can help get him started along a path for success.
I know from previous discussions here that many people don't typically give money advice to family, friends, or co-workers... But I've always been happy to do so if the person seems interested and intent on doing something with our discussion. In this case, he wanted to do it "tonight, right now, before I go". That kind of eagerness to learn about how to be smart with his money is fantastically encouraging to me, especially in a 20 y/o just starting out.
If only there were more young folks who are so eager to learn!
I was at work after-hours waiting for an event to finish out, and sitting next to me was a 20-year-old. He asked a few questions that made it clear he was working on his finances, and over the course of a half-hour he started asking very direct questions about credit cards, budgeting, investing, and so on... So I had the enjoyable opportunity of talking to him about stocks & bonds, mutual funds, risk vs. reward, savings accounts, and retirement accounts. By the time the event had wrapped up, we had set him up to get his Roth TSP started in one of their Lifecycle funds, and got his tax withholding adjusted to reduce his tax return (down from about $2k) such that his TSP contributions won't even impact his take-home pay. Sure, he's only starting with $100/mo (5% of pay), but it's a start.
What was really encouraging was how excited he was about it all. He was taking copious notes, asking very specific questions about what he can do, and asking for books & such that he might read to learn more. He's in the exact same place I was when I started learning about finances (20 y/o earning not a whole lot), and it's honestly a bit like déjà vu. He said he was going to come back periodically to ask more questions, and I hope he does. I really hope that I can help get him started along a path for success.
I know from previous discussions here that many people don't typically give money advice to family, friends, or co-workers... But I've always been happy to do so if the person seems interested and intent on doing something with our discussion. In this case, he wanted to do it "tonight, right now, before I go". That kind of eagerness to learn about how to be smart with his money is fantastically encouraging to me, especially in a 20 y/o just starting out.
If only there were more young folks who are so eager to learn!
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