Financial Planners Share Their Money Tips with Millennials
Financial Planners Share Their Money Tips with MillennialsSeptember 28, 2017 • Uncategorized
Let’s Talk $ – Millennial Money Tips
In a fast-paced world, it may seem like a daunting task to save money weekly or monthly and save up for later use. In a consumerist world, we are constantly swayed to purchase more things, which leaves less money to save for a retirement or an emergency fund. Despite our ever-changing money habits, it is important to plan for retirement and start thinking about how you would want your assets divided in your later years by estate planning.
We conducted an expert financial planner round up to give millennials their personal finance tips on why saving money is important and which tools are most helpful in money management. After researching common ways millennials save money, how much money they save and helpful tips to grow money, we decided it was best to consult the experts themselves.
The two questions we asked each expert:Â
- What is the most beneficial reason millennials should start saving their money now?
- What is your favorite budgeting tool and why?
Here is what we found…
Stefanie O’Connell – Millennial Money Expert
- “The sooner millennials start saving, the less money they have to set aside each week, month, year to achieve their goals in the next year, 5 years and ten years plus, and the less likely they are to have to settle for anything less than the life they want in those next 5 to ten to twenty plus years. For example, even if I don’t want to buy a home for 10 years, if I start saving up for that $50,000 down payment I’m estimating I’ll need now, I’ll only need to save $5,000/year. That’s less than $500/month. But if I wait 5 years to start saving, I’ll have to set aside twice as much to reach the same goal.”
- “My favorite budgeting tool is a good old fashioned spreadsheet. Simply writing down everything you spend, everything you earn and calculating the gap in between is enough to start leveraging your way to significant savings and wealth creation. No need to get bogged down in the minutia of money. Put your energy to work in more meaningful ways – like growing your money.”
David Carlson – Founder of the millennial personal finance blog Young Adult Money and author of Hustle Away Debt
http://www.youngadultmoney.com/
- “Millennials should start saving sooner rather than later for a couple of reasons. First, having savings (in the form of an emergency fund) helps you avoid high-interest debt and allows you to sleep better at night. I also recommend millennials start investing as soon as possible, even if it’s only a very small amount each week or month. The more you can invest in your 20s and 30s the more you can take advantage of compound interest. It’s much easier to get started in your 20s and 30s and have your investments grow versus getting started in your 40s or 50s when you have a shorter time horizon.”
- “My favorite budgeting app is Tiller, which is a spreadsheet-based app. Spreadsheets may sound old school and tedious, but they also give you the most control over your budget and force you to look at your budget closer than you would if you used a non-spreadsheet app. Tiller automates the most time-intensive aspect of budgeting by automatically pulling in your financial data into a uniform format in a spreadsheet.”
Mark Cussen – Financial Counselor
“By far the most beneficial reason that Millennials should start saving now is that their money will have more time to grow. Time is their biggest financial asset at this point in their lives. There are several excellent budgeting tools out there, but I would probably put Mint.com at the top of my list, as I have an account with them myself.”
Tiffany Aliche (“The Budgetnista”) – Financial Educator
- “In order to invest, you have to begin saving. Investing is the way to true financial wealth – you can’t get there by saving alone.”
- “My book ‘The One Week Budget’ because it offers simple tips on learning to create a system to manage your money in 7 days. Also, I like to use Excel – no need to be fancy, it works great!”
We can use these tips to better save our money and plan for the future. If you want more information about the financial planning process, contact estate planning lawyer Todd A. Zuckerbrod for more details.