I’m finally making some money…now what?

I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with a client’s daughter. She’s in her twenties, just finished up her nursing degree six months ago and is working the night shift at a local hospital. She is living with a couple of roommates and is finally in a position to save some money after being a very broke college student. She now faces the question posed by many young people who are starting their first “real” jobs.

Now what?

Michelle (as we will call her) wanted to know what to do with the money she’s now able to save. She had no idea where to start getting her finances in order. To get her started on the right track, I suggested she focus on a few key areas.

Live within your means

She’s already years ahead of many twenty-somethings in that she is living on less money than she earns. She wasn’t sure how much money she would be able to save on a monthly basis so I suggested she set up a rough budget. I didn’t encourage her to be terribly rigid with the budget but to use it to get a sense of where she is spending her money so she’s aware of her spending habits. This will help her decide what she wants to spend money on and what is less important to her.

Create an emergency fund

While she enjoys her job and has no plans to quit anytime soon, you never know what life will throw your way. So I recommended she save three to six months of income and have it very liquid (money market, for example), which will enable her to have a safety net in place.

Understand your insurance policies

Michelle wasn’t sure exactly what her benefits were at work. She knew she had medical but wasn’t sure of the deductible. She also didn’t know if she had dental or vision coverage. As a young woman in her twenties, the likelihood of an expensive surgery or illness is very low, but injuries can still happen.

She also had no idea whether her employer provided disability insurance. I recommended she read through her employee materials again as things are typically a blur when starting a new job. I also encouraged her to ask the HR department about any questions she may still have after reading the policy information.

I checked to make sure she has car and renter’s insurance and that the policies are up to date. When you’re just getting started financially, you don’t want to find out after an accident that your $10,000 car is only covered up to $5,000, or regret not having renter’s insurance after your upstairs neighbors leaves a faucet on, flooding your apartment and ruining your new laptop, couch and clothing.

Pay off your debt

This is typically the ball and chain around many people’s ankles when they first start their careers. I recommended that Michelle pay off the money she owes by attacking the debt with the highest interest rates first. She has about $10,000 in student loans and another $1,500 in credit card debt. The credit card debt has a much higher interest rate than the student loans, so she’ll pay the minimum on the student loans until she pays off the credit cards. Then she’ll pay down the student loans. A good way for her to keep debt in check moving forward is to use primarily cash for all purchases or to use a credit card and pay it off monthly.

I also recommended she compare her local credit union fees and programs to that of her bank. She’ll likely save money on ATM transactions, credit card interest and loans in the future by using a credit union.

Identify short-term and long-term goals

Michelle’s short-term goals include a trip with college friends to Hawaii later in the year. Her longer-term goals include retirement and buying a house. It was important to identify these goals so she can budget for the trip and start down the road to home ownership and retirement. While retirement is probably 40 to 50 years off for Michelle, she will not have to save nearly as much towards her future as friends who start saving in their thirties. She’s fortunate to have a 401k plan and the hospital provides her with some matching as well. The matching is basically free money to her so she would be wise to take advantage of it. By contributing to her 401k plan, she’ll pay less in taxes and benefit from the employer match, which is a win-win. She may not be able to add as much as she’d like to her retirement plan right now, but she can always increase that after building up her emergency fund and paying off debt.

Get organized

Michelle is well on her way to a successful future just by addressing her finances at such a young age. She’ll have a good handle on her spending habits, her debt level and goals.

My final piece of advice, which Michelle has already followed, is to talk to your parents’ financial advisor. The advisor may not be in a position to take you on as a client, but they should be happy to meet with you and get you headed in the right direction.

This article was written by retired Merriman Wealth Advisor, Cheryl Curran.