21 yrs old and Need a Plan!!!! Help?

[project15]

First of all, i am a certified financial counselor and it doesnt matter how old your are. It matters how good you are, i have 2 years experience and been doing well so far. I will be doing this for a long time.

Well i dont have any financial debt at all right now at my age, so obviously i am doing something right.

I'm jealous, I wish I could be a financial counselor by profession - especially at our age (I'm 24).

[scfr]

I will most likely look into 401k

That way the money is already put in there automatically and i really wont miss it too much.

Yes - By all means put as much as you can in to the 401K! Since it sounds like you are not inclined to ring up debt, your best bet will be to put the money where you cannot touch it, and may not even miss it if it is taken out of your paycheck.

Second, if you physically receive a paper paycheck, you could try going to the bank on payday and immediately putting a certain amount (perhaps $200 per month?) in to a CD ... The money will be there if you need it in case of emergency, but again it will be a bit hands off.

Third, if you have someone you trust completely, you could develop an "accountability contract" where you promise to report to them honestly how much shopping you have done and how much you are saving.

Fourth, when you see something you are tempted to buy, write it down on your calendar a week or later. If, after time has past, you still think buying it is a great idea, go ahead. But I'll bet most of the time you'll be scratching your head and wondering why you thought you needed or wanted it.

Finally, what if you wear mittens when you have free time at work?

But seriously, good luck to you! I think it is great you have recognized what could become a serious problem and are going to nip it in the bud.

[Gruntina]

Implementing finance plans means making choices. You would need to make choices on how you plan to save/spend your money. Dreaming alone itself will not get you anywhere.

I totally agree with many and their advice to you. I wanted to chip in on a Small Scale. Maybe you need an incentive to save. It seems you are still focuses on finding enjoyment through clothing’s. Maybe bigger goals than clothing’s such as a nice vacation, down payment on a house or the like, and set up a "savings pot" so it can "train" you to save when you are saving for something you can not afford immediately. Kind of changing your mindset and building your endurance on discipline with your money savings and not blow it every time you get a paycheck. The process of Delayed Gratification is not as fun as Instant Gratification but it is so much more rewarding.

[maat55]

Remain as debtfree as possible. Invest in 401 up to match, save an 3 to 6 month EF, invest in a roth ira about 200 a month, save cash for cars and stuff. If you get a credit card, I would only get one to pay off every month. If your not comfortable with having a CC, don't get it. Your doing great and now you can go to the next level, investing in mutual funds with a five to ten year tract record of over 12%.

[buzz]

alright, here we go:

#2 - Maximize free cash.
- open a checking account with highest stable interest available, but primary purpose would be for bill pay, etc. Even better if you can open one that gives you a $100 bonus or something like that
- open an account with GE INTEREST PLUS (geinterestplus.com). I dare you to find an account with a better interest rate over time.
- You will then keep only needed spending money in the checking account with the bulk in GE Interest Plus. You can then A) setup regular withdrawals for recurring bills (ex: insurance, car, etc) with GE Interest Plus. For the remainder that are not the same each month (ex: utilities) - transfer a lump sum from GEIP and then pay it via your checking account.

I dare you to defend saving money in a non-insured account with mediocre rates.

[disneysteve]

I dare you to defend saving money in a non-insured account with mediocre rates.

I won't defend the mediocre rate part, but lots of us keep money in uninsured accounts. I have various money market accounts that are uninsured. In fact, I don't have any that are insured. I've got one with Wells Fargo, one with PayPal, one with Schwab, one with H&R Block brokerage, a couple with Vanguard... The only things I have that are insured are my checking account and a CD.

[maat55]

Money in secured places is money just sitting around. Investing is a risk you must take to make gains.

[BCHGRL]

Not to sound harsh, but if you are a financial advisor, why are you coming to this board for help to make a plan? It seems to me that a financial advisor would know how to save for the future and how to go about it.

[Hot dog]

I would think that dr. go to other drs. for diagnosis. No one person can know everything. I know I like to hear lots of people's opinions degree or no degree in whatever subject is being discussed. Just because I have a degree in a certain field doesn't mean that I can't learn something from someone without a degree

[Gruntina]

I have experience credit counseling, they just give you a finance workbook. They don't really teach much but to extract from a book. I can imagine no one really takes this information seriously until they are in dire need of help.

Its more of "The teacher shows up when the student is ready to learn"

[m1kesgurl]

exactly. I am always up for learning more everyday. i learn so much more everyday and i use it everyday now. I want to be able to invest in things that will help my future. me being a financial advisor, being in the debt settlement business, we do not learn about investing in roths, and iras and what not. we basically find ways to make situations better for our client.

A client who has so much debt, they are looking to get out of debt, not take money and put it somewhere else to build and more and more over the years. we put them in a program and have a negotiator handle the rest. if they want help with budgetting, then they come to me, or if they arent able to handle their situation, they come to me.

[disneysteve]

me being a financial advisor, being in the debt settlement business, we do not learn about investing in roths, and iras and what not. we basically find ways to make situations better for our client.

I think this clears up something. When you said you were a financial counselor, I think a lot of us assumed that meant you were advising others on how to manage their money and we couldn't understand why you'd need to come here to figure out how to manage your own.

The fact that you only deal with debt settlement explains the discrepancy.

[Scanner]

That's what I was thinking. . .he must be in some other form of finance.

Wealth accumulation is a complex subject. . .but it isn't complex at the same time. . .buy a basic book. I even have one laying around. . .if you p.m. me, I'll send it book rate to you. It was written by Charles Schwab.

A very basic primer. . . you'll have to think about how risky you are. . .low, medium, high.

Understanding your risk tolerance is probably key and then learning about the different vehicles is second (debt sector or equity sector).

Good luck.

[m1kesgurl]

Yeah, we dont talk about investing money. We basically get the client into a program to eliminate their debt. Then if they have questions about how to handle personal or financial issues, they call and we assist them. But most of our clients, just want help with their debt situation, nothing more

[disneysteve]

most of our clients, just want help with their debt situation, nothing more

That's really a shame since what lots of them probably need is guidance on how to stay out of debt in the first place.