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Welcome to Adulthood: Master Your Money With These 5 Steps





In this episode, we discuss essential strategies for achieving financial success as a young adult. We dive into the importance of setting financial goals, creating a budget, building an emergency fund, and starting to invest. We also highlight the significance of career development by maintaining a "brag list" of your accomplishments. These strategies are key to navigating adulthood and securing long-term financial stability.


SET FINANCIAL GOALS


Setting financial goals is crucial for achieving your version of financial success. Whether you're saving for retirement or planning a vacation, setting clear, specific goals helps you stay focused and motivated.

To make your goals actionable, assign timeframes to each one. This will help you understand how much you need to save on a monthly or yearly basis to reach them. Here are three common time frames for financial goals:

  • Short-term: 1–3 years

  • Intermediate-term: 3–7 years

  • Long-term: 7+ years

Make sure to review your goals regularly—ideally, annually or semi-annually. As your life circumstances change or you achieve milestones, reassess your goals to keep them aligned with your evolving needs.


CREATE A BUDGET

Many people have a negative view of budgets, but think of it as your personalized spending plan. A budget helps you allocate your income toward essential expenses, discretionary spending, savings, and investments.

There are several budgeting methods you can choose from, and we recommend the following four approaches, which we cover in more detail on our website:


  • 50/30/20 Method

  • Envelope Method

  • Every Penny Counts Method

  • Budgeting Apps


The key to successful budgeting is consistency—review your expenses regularly. What gets measured, gets improved!


BUILD YOUR EMERGENCY FUND

Building an emergency fund is a priority. Having 3-6 months of living expenses saved in a high-yield savings account (HYSA) can provide peace of mind when unexpected expenses arise. This way, you won’t need to rely on high-interest credit cards to cover emergencies.

A HYSA earns you interest on your savings, which is a much smarter choice than paying credit card interest!


START INVESTING 


The sooner you start investing, the better. Focus on time in the market, rather than trying to time the market. The longer your money is invested, the more you’ll benefit from compound interest. This means you'll earn interest on both your initial investment and any interest you've already earned.

While investing can seem intimidating, it doesn’t have to be! We’ve created a free 5-step guide to make investing simple and easy to understand.


START YOUR CAREER BRAG LIST


A career “brag list” or portfolio is an essential tool to track your achievements and professional growth. Include key projects, praise from colleagues, customers, or business partners, and measurable impacts such as cost savings, revenue increases, or process improvements.

This list will help you advocate for raises and promotions, and ensure your resume is always up-to-date. Start today by downloading our free Brag List template to track your accomplishments!


FINAL THOUGHTS


It can feel overwhelming to think about your entire financial plan, but don’t let that stop you. Break the process into manageable steps to make steady progress toward your larger goals. To help you get started, download our savings goal template.


We’d love to hear how you've invested in yourself this week. Email us at hello@liveyourmoneystyle.com and share your journey!


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