Personal Financial Literacy Tied to Career Success: 3 Tips for Young Professionals
One of the things I’ve learned working with young people over the years is that many wish they had a deeper understanding of money matters earlier in their lives.
I get it– personal finance isn’t the coolest topic. But having more clarity and confidence (and money!) is cool, so why not focus there?
With April being National Financial Literacy Month, it is the perfect time to highlight the critical– although often overlooked– relationship between financial literacy and career success, especially for the career-motivated young professionals reading this blog.
No matter how much money you earn, if you don't know how to effectively manage your money, your career will eventually suffer the consequences.
This is your official invitation to invest in yourself to create the life you want! It’s never too late. In fact, today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Here are 3 time-tested tips to help you with your personal finances and, by extension, your career and your life:
1. Increase your financial knowledge and start planning for a future that inspires you
If you are like many people with unanswered financial questions, Napkin Finance is a great place to start! Here you can browse a wide array of money topics (i.e. savings, credit, good vs. bad debt, insurance, taxes, investing, real estate, and so many more) that interest you and get detailed real-world information that can empower you immediately! Bonus: Financially literate people tend to be more valuable employees.
2. Create a personal budget and use a budgeting/personal finance app consistently
Do you have a personal budget that outlines your income and expenses? Do you track your fixed vs. variable expenses each month? Do you intentionally set aside money for a special occasion? It can feel tempting to avoid your numbers (I’ve been there!), but it is a great idea to create a simple budget– even better if you pick one of the many budgeting tools available today and use it consistently.
Since Intuit’s beloved and widely used free personal budgeting app “Mint” went away last month, millions of people are looking for viable alternatives. Below are some free and paid options, with a short note about why you might want one over another:
Free Options:
- Nerdwallet - educational resources
- Rocket Money - bill management
- Honeydue - for couples
Paid:
- Monarch Money - one-stop financial management - easy shift from Mint
- Copilot Money - budgeting and expense tracking (U.S. based Apple users)
- YNAB - zero-based budget approach
3. Save even when you feel squeezed
While you may barely be making ends meet, it is extremely wise to develop the habit of saving– even if you begin with just a dollar per day or per week. Think of building this new habit like you would build up muscle at the gym. You will not see an immediate result but you will, soon enough, make measurable progress toward your goal. So long as the habit has been established, you can easily increase the amount and frequency of your savings, just like you would increase the weight and reps at the gym.
I hope I have inspired you to tackle your finances head-on this month and start putting some new money habits in place.
Being intentional about how you want your life to look and feel will go a long way. Proactively taking steps to build your personal financial foundation will prove to be a priceless endeavor.
You can do this! I believe in you!
To Your Success,
Amy.
P.S. If you or someone you know could use help with your resume, cover letter and/or LinkedIn profile, sign up HERE for our FREE GS-BUS (Get Support Before U Submit) session happening next Wednesday, April 17th from 12-1pm ET on Zoom. You can also feel free to drop me an email at [email protected].