Money on your mind?

I turned 27 last week, or as my young sister likes to say, I’m three years away from 30. A lot has changed since I started Broke Millennial as a 23-year-old woman not even two years into my post-college life in New York City. My relationship with money has evolved. My knowledge has certainly sky rocketed. Peach and I finally live near each other – which brings a whole different set of money conversations to light! I started to read back through old posts and interviews as well as reflect on the direction I’d like to see both my career and financial life go in the next few years before 30. Hey, it’s my next significant milestone age. In this reflection I’ve come up with 27 things I’ve learned about money by the time I turned 27.

1. How I value my time: Some of the things I used to do to pinch a penny seemed like the storyline of TLC show (hello freezing water bottles to put in my bed during the summer months). Sure, I still do some extreme frugal moves, but one thing that’s drastically changed is how I value my time. This sometimes has to do with convenience, like taking an Uber to the airport instead of the bus, and sometimes has to do with how much I charge for my work.

2. Out-earning your partner when you’re serious, but not married, causes interesting financial challenges: Peach and I aren’t married, aren’t even living together, but the fact I have a positive net worth (he has student loans) and out-earn him sometimes causes interesting tension. It’s certainly made us talk through our money strategies and goals to an excessive degree – but that’s probably more credited towards my general love of personal finance. We have plans for how to handle money when we’re married, but what happens when you’re really serious but not legally yoked is a rarely spoken about topic.

3. You’ll gravitate towards people with similar financial values: Maybe not in college and maybe not in your early twenties, but eventually you’ll start to see your circle of friends have eerily similar values to your own. Sometimes it’s seemingly silly differences like whether their club folks or dive bar aficionados and others it’s about whether they’ll accept “hey – want to just split a bottle of wine and chat instead of paying $15 for a single cocktail?” as a serious Friday night option. Or maybe that’s just getting older in general.

4. Invest in yourself: Accumulating money to just sit pretty in investing or savings isn’t always the best option. Whether it’s picking up a new skill or using a big chunk of your savings to develop a short film that gets into TriBeCa (#shoutout to my sister) – investing in yourself is a risk worth taking. There are times I regret not taking a leap of faith and sticking to the traditional, safe path. Hopefully, I’ll feel confident taking my own advice at 27 (or at least by 30…).

5. Dogs are expensive (and worth it): 26 was the year I made one of only two impulsive decisions in my lifetime and adopted Mosby. He came into my home as a slightly beat-up (probably 7-year-old) snuggly dog. I panicked immediately after we got home and wondered how I could possible adjust my life around caring for another creature who solely depended on me. Now, I’m full-blown dog mama status (seriously, check out my Instagram). Mosby is insanely good for my mental and physical health – no backyard means lots of walks – but I do pay a price. He’s cost me $4,204.16 in almost a year thanks to an unexpected surgery, flying him with him on a few vacations, and my general over indulgences in buying him top-of-the-line food and treats.

6. Opinions are a lot like… There are lots of colorful ways to end that sentence, so you can fill in the blank yourself! Everyone has an opinion with how money should be handled, spent, saved, invested or whether debt can be good or is never to be touched or if credit scores are imperative or Satan’s incarnation in the financial world. You need to develop your own opinion on financial matters. Yes, sometimes there is a right answer – like it’s important to be on the right side of compound interest. But sometimes it’s about finding what’s best for you and not just following the path of the latest financial trend.

7. Personal finance is PERSONAL: Nothing like regularly sharing your opinions with a wide variety of audiences across multiple platforms to really reinforce how to put the personal in personal finance. I acknowledge that some of what works for me will not work for others, but just starting the conversation gets everyone moving in the right direction!

8. For the love of God – set up your beneficiaries: It seriously takes minutes of your day to set up beneficiaries on your financial accounts. Your account might make it easy by prompting you to have a beneficiary under the account management tab or you may see the terms Payable on Death (PoD) for bank accounts or a ToD (Transfer on Death) for investments. Yes, your bank account should also have a PoD. This is just a kind way to save your family some serious angst if you meet your maker in an untimely way. I see it as an act of love. Otherwise, your money could end up in probate court! Even just a little money…

9. It’s time to have a will: Yup, on a roll about death right now. Odd for a healthy 27-year-old woman, but hey, we’re all going to die. I realized earlier this year that it was time I ensure my money and special belongings ends up in the hands of my loved ones with no stress on their end. I also have stipulations in my will about where Mosby is to go and even have a special amount of money earmarked for his care. Plus, getting a basic will put together is simple and pretty cheap. P.S. Your beneficiaries do trump what you put in your will. So you might want to keep that in mind when you get married, have kids, etc.

10. Everyone loves the term F@*k Off Fund (and should have one): This idea, while not exactly a new phenomenon, went viral in early 2016. While I’ve always be a saver, the concept of money specifically earmarked so I can walk away from a sticky situation is motivating. I don’t personally think of my F-Off fund as a separate account from my emergency savings fund, but the term is just way more fun. I should see if I can rename my savings account…

11. Name your savings accounts: Speaking of naming savings accounts, do it! It’s my favorite simple trick to save money that isn’t automating. You’ll find yourself more likely to stick to a goal when you’re depositing money into your “EuroTrip” fund or your “Ditch this Job” account instead of “Savings Account”.

12. Early retirement movement 101: I recently read an interview I did on another site a few years ago about the FI/RE movement as it was just gaining mass popularity. Woof, have my thoughts changed. While I still don’t think I’d feel financially secure with just a million dollars in the bank and a family to raise in my thirties or forties, I’m starting to better understand the financial independence/retire early movement. To me it’s more around lifestyle design ala Tim Ferriss and structuring your life to be able to work as you see fit and not feel the need to exchange your time for money in the traditional 9-to-5 sense. And wouldn’t we all love to be there ASAP?

13. Sharing your net worth with friends is okay: Unlike other bloggers, I’m not open about my net worth on this site. There are a variety of reasons for this, but a big one had to do with not wanting people who actually know me (friends, co-workers, extended family) to have that much information about my financial picture. I didn’t want it to get thrown in my face that “yes, you can afford x,y,z” when I used, “eh, I don’t really want to spend money on this right now.” My values and other people’s values don’t always align, so it can frustrate folks when I’m unyielding about dumping money into something they find worthwhile. However, I did open up to a few people about my net worth recently because it felt like the right place and time. I also trusted these loved ones not to use the information as justification for trying to get me to do things in the future.

14. Over-extending yourself is a budget buster: The biggest mistake I made at 26 was over-extending myself, a lot. This comes with both health and financial repercussions. A week into being 27 and things aren’t exactly going any better. It is a goal of mine this year to figure out when to say no and redirect some focus on self-care.

15. You can’t fix (money) stupid – don’t be a 20-something idiot: Getting paid per clicks or just wanting to go viral is creating all sorts of obnoxious content. Some of my least favorites are the articles about money that help justify bad financial decisions in the name of YOLO/FOMO/insert any other dumb-dumb millennial acronym here. You don’t need to be blowing money to live a full life. Even in New York City! I know, I live here. Unfortunately, no amount of reasoning is going to fix stupid. It’ll probably take being 45 with no retirement savings and $40,000 in credit card debt to get the wake-up call that something needs to change. At which point, I’ll happily say, “told ya so!”

16. Re-evaluate your budgeting style: I’m a fan of a budgeting style I affectionately call the “No Budget Budget”. It’s a bit of a mash up between different well-known budgets with a tribute being paid to zero-sum budgeting without the focus on categories. I pay myself first (savings + retirement). Pay my bills. Then the remaining money can be spent as I see fit. This strategy has proved effective for me in the last few years, but it’s time to switch up my style. In my 27^th year of life, I plan to give the zero sum budget it’s due diligence in an effort to double down even further on my savings goals and prepare for some next steps in my life.

17. “Don’t let other people spend your money” is easier said than done: This probably got born out of the “Keeping up with the Jonses” era idioms – but sometimes other people are seriously going to spend your money. Looking at you attending weddings and the $15,000 price tag I believe is attached. Sure, I could say no – but I do genuinely want to attend many of the weddings to which I’m invited as well as stand up next to dear friends and family as they profess their love to their partners. Therefore, I save for other people’s weddings and know full well they’re really getting to spend my money…

18. Have a long-term vision: Like most normal people, I hate the question “Where do you see yourself in X years.” Truthfully, I don’t really know. I have a couple hazy day dreams about where I’d like to see my life by 30, 35 or 40 – but I’m not sure what my #1 life goal really is. I save to be able to life without stress over paying my bills and to be able to take some nice trips, but mostly, I save just for the sake of saving. It’s important to start developing a long-term vision so there are actionable steps to start working towards. Not in a vision board sense, but in a lifestyle design and career building sense. It may mean needing to quit certain projects or pivot along the way, but it’s time to really focus in on what will make me feel fulfilled while also paying the bills.
    

    Lightening Round

19. You can crack the coveted 800 credit score by just using credit cards as your only means of credit. You don’t have to have loans in order to build a good credit score. #humblebrag obviously.

20. Lifestyle inflation is very real and very dangerous. Boost your savings as soon as that new paycheck hits the bank account.

21. A cash diet is like eating clean (or juicing) for your finances and probably worth giving a try to make your bank account feel better.

22. Never “give a loan” to a person with whom you are close. Give a gift with no strings attached. Awesome if he or she decides to repay you, but be prepared to never see that money again.

23. Do a net worth check in at least once a month. It’s important for you to see how your investments are performing and if you’re really saving like you thought and (for those with debt) – how much progress you are or aren’t making.

24. It’s important to talk to your parents about their financial situations, especially as they near retirement.

25. Don’t offer people advice about their financial habits unless it’s solicited.

26. Assuming life would be much different if you made X probably isn’t true. When I earned $37,500 a year, I believed NYC would be my playground if I made $80,000. I now earn more than $80,000 a year and I indulge ever so slightly more than when I occupied the $37,500 bracket, but mostly I just save more.

27. Money can indeed bring you happiness – to a degree – but sometimes it’s important to stop fixating on dollars and cents so much.