People Are Dishing Out The Financial Wisdom They Wish They’d Been Taught In School

Adulting is a headache even on a good day; there are so many different ways to mess up, and of course, no instruction manual. I think we all wish we had a class or two in school that would have prepared us better for navigating the maze that is taxes, insurance, and mortgages. The next best thing to that, though, is asking advice from the older and hopefully wiser folks who have already stumbled through. So I turned to the BuzzFeed Community to ask: “What are the things you wish someone had told you about finance when you were starting out and knew absolutely nothing?” People banded together to share the game-changing advice that made the biggest differences in their finances, and here’s what they had to say, along with Redditors from the r/personalfinance community.

“Put your savings in a high-yield savings account! I was over 40 before I realized this. Now, I wish I had put the money I had saved to buy a house into a high-yield account. I sat on that money for years in a traditional savings, earning little interest. It makes me so mad that I didn’t know about it then. That additional savings accrual could have been so helpful in home renovations and items we didn’t even know we needed when we bought the house (like new appliances).”

“When I first started working, money was very tight, so I decided not to contribute to my 401(k), thinking I’d do it once I was on my feet. I ended up putting it off until I was about 30. It was an incredibly dumb move, and I missed out on so much employer match money and interest income.”

—axj66

“Take advantage of 401(k) plans offered by employers. Most offer a ‘match’ — which is basically free money added to the account by the employer. Always put in at least how much the company will match. if they match the first 5% you put in, then put in at least 5%. You don’t get taxed on the money you put in until you withdraw in retirement, so your taxes are lower on your check, too. There are usually rules about when the match money becomes yours (vesting schedule), but keep an eye on that date if you are considering switching jobs; I’ve seen people lose thousands of dollars because they left a job three or six months before they were either fully vested or at least a milestone.”

“If/when you switch jobs, do NOT get tempted to just take the money out and blow it. Besides the taxes and penalties for using it, that couple thousand dollars (that was already not really in your pocket all along) will be a nice chunk of money down the line. And time does move faster the older you get…”

—Anonymous, 49, Missouri

“‘Give every dollar a job…’ Having $1000 in my checking account with no purpose meant I had $1000 to spend, and I often did.”

“Many banks will let you open extra accounts for no cost and maybe even link them together. A $1000 paycheck with direct deposit and auto transfers means putting $500 into a bills account, $300 into savings, and only $200 in my spending account. If I don’t see the money in my account in the first place, I don’t get as tempted to spend it.”

—u/Theta_Zero

“If you buy something on sale, you still bought it.Instead of thinking I got $30 off on this $100 dollar appliance, think, ‘I spent $70 dollars on this appliance.’ That $30 off is easier to justify than the $70 spent, especially if it is a niche item that doesn’t get much use. That being said, if you can get a great deal on something you will use regularly — get it.”

“Paying for services annually instead of monthly. You can often save 20-30% by paying annually.”

“This is actually my husband’s favorite: ‘You may make minimum wage or you may make a million, but a pizza still costs five bucks.’ It’s a lesson in not falling into the standard of living creep trap as your income rises.”

“I have three no-spend days per week. Right now, they’re Monday through Wednesday. I make sure to stock up on groceries, gas, etc. over the weekend. I won’t even buy a coffee on no-spend days. It has helped slow my spending down significantly.”

—Anonymous

10.

“From my cousin: ‘There’s no point in saving every freaking penny you earn if you don’t set aside something to have fun with.’ My dad saved every penny he ever earned and got his house and car paid off early. He worked 60+ hrs a week when he was younger and never had any fun. He regrets it now because he has this money that he can’t really use to travel and whatnot. So my advice is to take 5% of your yearly salary and just have some fun. If you don’t use it all, either roll it over for next year or put it to some good use. Money isn’t everything. Experiences are.”

11.

“‘Invest while you’re young. It’s the only time you can afford big risks.’ It is much easier to take a big loss when you are young and have years to recover it than it is to take a big risk at, say, 60, when you only have a few good years of work left in you.”

—u/AdrenolineLove

12.

“Diversify your income sources as much as practical. This can range from renting a room to finding simple one-off contracts (e.g., writing tutorials) you can do on weekends to investments.”

13.

“Invest in index tracker funds rather than actively managed funds. Actively managed funds rarely beat the market over long periods of time, particularly when ‘middle-man’ costs are taken into consideration.”

14.

“My dad always said that paying interest is akin to robbing yourself (he was talking about day-to-day consumer debt from credit cards, not big-ticket items such as cars and homes). My best education was just being a child in hyperinflationary 1980s Brazil, when you’d get matches and candy for change because they were a better store of value than currency, and the 65% interest accrued monthly in a savings account was still offset by inflation.”

15.

“Debt is borrowing from future you. Savings is lending to future you.”

–u/zonination

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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