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I like to think that maybe I’ve learned something from all of the different mistakes I’ve made and also the things that I’ve done right. I haven’t done everything right, but I feel sincerely that for someone my age I’m doing pretty well. I have a high credit score and I have relatively little debt, all things considered. I am planning and contributing towards my retirement, and even towards shorter term things such as a down payment on a house. I feel like I’ve got a pretty good edge on things, although there’s still plenty that I could be doing better. Of course this got me to thinking about what I believe are the most important things that one can do in their “financial infancy” so to speak. Basically what follows is a quick list of some things that I believe someone just beginning adulthood and financial literacy should follow… a few rules of thumb, if you will.

Here’s what I’ve come up with:

1. Establish and maintain a positive credit rating
2. Learn to budget, and then to LIVE ON that budget
3. Learn to save(and not to immediately spend your savings)
4. Establish a 401(k) account, or if not offered establish an IRA or a Roth IRA

Joseph, you say, how can I do all of these things? A list doesn’t exactly tell me anything! Well my friends, let me dive just a little further into those points…

Establish a positive credit rating

Establishing (and maintaining of course) a positive credit rating will more than likely be one of the most important things that you will ever do when it comes to your finances. Truthfully it’s not difficult to establish and keep your credit rating (e.g. credit score) at an above-average level. The average FICO score is in the mid 600’s, something which can be achieved with just a little dedication. What sort of dedication? Not much. Truly. Pay your bills on time (this can be easily achieved with recurring online bill pay). Don’t max out your credit cards. Get credit cards if you don’t have any; use them monthly and then pay off the bill every month (on time of course). Be smart about your credit. Don’t open up a charge account at every store you shop at just because they are offering you 10% off today’s purchase. Don’t use your credit card to pay for something unless you have the cash to pay it off (or if you insist on using it still, make sure you’ll have the cash within a month to pay it off). Doing these simple things will help you to establish a squeaky clean credit rating, which will lead to lower loan rates and a much easier time qualifying for loans… not to mention potential auto insurance savings, etc.

For a little more detail on how a FICO credit score is calculated, and how it can be used, check out this post I previously wrote.

Learn to budget

Budgeting is an important part of your financial health. Budgeting means, in a nutshell, living within your means. It doesn’t necessarily mean tracking every single purchase you ever make and not allowing yourself to spend more than “x” amount of dollars on entertainment in a given month. Instead I have learned that it means to know how much you earn in a month and to not let your expenses exceed your income. Sure it sounds like a silly thing to say, but many people have yet to grasp this concept. Another thing I’ve learned that must be a part of ones budget is to budget a portion of your money away into some form of a savings or investing account. Go ahead, enjoy your life and spend your money while you still can, but make sure that you save just enough to cover emergency expenses and larger more expensive purchases, such as a down payment on a house or that new 52″ HDTV you have been lusting after. For a detailed look at a budgeting method I use, check out this post.

Learn to save

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Save a bit of every single paycheck and you’ll find yourself living much more comfortably than those around you. This principle is important for a few reasons. First it’s a good idea to have an emergency fund of about 3 to 6 months worth of your income saved up… for emergencies of course. Having this fund will erase untold amounts of stress from your life. Finally learning to save will eventually lead you to financial independence, and isn’t that what we’re all really after? Chances are you won’t be winning the lottery in this lifetime, so you’ve got to provide riches to yourself rather than expecting others to provide them to you.

Establish a 401(k)

For those who might not be informed on what a 401(k) is, please check out this post I wrote about it. I believe most of you probably have a pretty good idea of what a 401(k) is and what they can mean to your financial health at retirement. Contributing regularly to your 401(k) starting at a young age can mean all the difference in the world to the lifestyle you will be able to enjoy at retirement. If a 401(k) is not something that is offered by your employer (if you don’t know if it’s offered ask your manager - there’s a pretty decent chance that it is) then you will want to spring for an IRA or a Roth IRA. These are retirement accounts similar to the 401(k) in that they are tax-advantaged, but instead of being managed by your employer they are managed either by yourself or by a financial services company such as Vanguard. If you are in a low income tax bracket then a Roth IRA might be a better choice for you, because they are only taxable before the money is deposited into them. In other words when you go to withdraw from your Roth IRA at retirement you will not owe taxes on ANY of the monies that you pull out of your Roth IRA. Fantastic eh?

I defininitely believe that the above listed principles are very important to maintaining a strong financial health, and I also believe that only by being prepared and informed will you be able to become financially independent and probably even rich.

Do any of you have any other suggestions on things that you have found to be important when starting out your financial life? Or maybe something you wish you would have known - or done - when you were younger? Please leave your comments, and if you like this post feel free to share it with others.

“Choosing a [financial institution] is not a decision that should be made on a whim. A [financial institution] is supposed to save you [or help you earn] money, but without the proper amount of research it is possible to end up with one that costs you money.”

I’ve been an employee of a local credit union for about two years now, and I’ve heard stories from a lot of people who have savings, checking accounts, loans or investment accounts at other financial institutions. I myself used to bank with one of the big banks and ever since I switched my accounts over to the credit union, I have been much happier with the handling of my finances. Most people think enough about their finances to be aware of how much they make and how much they spend. Unfortunately I don’t believe many people really ever think about choosing financial institutions that will benefit them the most, but rather which one is closest to their house, or which one their parents, siblings or spouse do business with. I think this quote from Sandra Masterson’s Banking Blog is a fantastic way of stating the need to think when choosing ones financial institution(s).

I could not have said it better myself. I truly believe that time and effort should be put into researching local (or maybe even not local) institutions and the different products, rates and fees that they offer and charge. Here’s a quick list of the features I look for when choosing a bank (or credit union) as an example.

• Convenience (this doesn’t necessarily mean closest)
• Product Offerings (how competitive are their rates? what fees are associated with their deposit accounts?)

I have a large majority of all my financial accounts at two financial institutions: Desert Schools Federal Credit Union and USAA. Why did I choose to do my business with these institutions? I’ll start with Desert Schools, which I’ll refer to as DSFCU. I have had a savings and checking account at DSFCU for about three years. Before I banked with DSFCU, I banked with Chase and at one point Bank of America. I don’t have any horror stories from either of these big banks, but they always seemed to leave me longing for more. I learned about Desert Schools through a friend and decided to go check them out. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that not only did they offer free checking, but their savings rates were some of the highest I’d ever found (this is not including online savings banks which have low overhead and can thus offer higher rates). I became especially impressed with them when I noticed how typically friendly and helpful their staff was. Finally I appreciated the fact that they offered overdraft protection through a personal line of credit, which has saved me from overdraft fees on more than one occasion.

USAA is a financial institution that I am especially happy with. They cater themselves mostly to those in the military, which I find especially upsetting because the majority of my friends and family are not able to do business with them. USAA is a full-service financial services provider. They offer products including banking, insurance, and investing. I utilize at least one product from each of these categories. USAA is convenient to me because almost everything can be done online, and this includes depositing checks. I can make insurance payments, transfer funds (between USAA and other institutions) and purchase stocks or mutual funds. They also offer very competitive rates.

I’d like to make a quick list for you of some financial institutions that I’ve done business with in the past or that I am currently doing business with that I have found to be useful in helping me achieve my financial goals. I’ll list them by category.

Banks/Credit Unions

• Desert Schools FCU (Phoenix, AZ based)
• USAA
• HSBC Online Savings

Brokerages/Retirement Accounts

• Scottrade
• Sharebuilder
• USAA

Insurance

• Geico
• USAA

I hope that this has helped everyone recognize the value of researching financial institutions before doing business with them. I also hope that if you are currently unhappy with your financial institutions you do business with that you will take a day to sort out your finances and transfer your accounts to somewhere which will help you along the way to financial independence. Good luck!

Do you have any rich relatives or friends? If one of them were to call you up and tell you that if you invest your money in a mutual fund that they would match dollar-for-dollar up to 5% of your investment amount, would you turn them down? I would hope not. Unfortunately this is exactly the sort of thing that I see my friends and associates doing quite frequently. Of course I’m not referring to my best friends rich Uncle, but rather his employers’ 401(k) retirement program, and their matching funds policy!

So let me ask you again, are you ignoring free money? If you are contributing to your 401k plan and taking advantage of the full employer match, then good for you! However if you are like my friend and haven’t bothered to sign up for your 401k for whatever reason, then I’m going to strongly recommend that you quit procrastinating and (as Nike loves to say) just do it! Don’t try to convince yourself that it’s not that important right now with one of your lame excuses… just get it done! When you next go into work send a quick e-mail to your boss, your manager, your HR rep; whoever you need to contact to ask them what you need to do to start contributing to your 401k.

What is a 401(k) and how does it work?

A 401k is an employer-sponsored retirement plan and is named after section 401(k) in the IRS tax code. When you sign up to contribute to your 401k you elect a certain percentage of your gross (meaning before taxes and other withdrawals) income to be contributed to your 401k plan. The percentage that you choose will then be withdrawn from each of your paychecks, and put into your 401k account. These funds are then used to purchase mutual funds or other securities (such as your employers stock).

Pretty simple eh? There is one more benefit I’d like to mention: the tax advantages of a traditional 401k. Any monies which you contribute to your 401k are not taxable (this would not apply to the Roth 401k*)! In other words if you make $30k a year and contribute 10% of your pay to your 401k your taxable income will only be $27k instead of the $30k which you actually earned! At a 20% tax rate this comes out to a tax savings of $600 dollars!

*I will cover the Roth401k in another article.