Learning About Finances when you are Just Starting Out.

Money is complicated and for some people can feel like people are talking in a foreign language. Short sales, index funds, points, bear markets, roth, what do these even mean! If learning more about your finances feels intimidating to you, then this is the post you need. You can begin learning about finances when you are just starting out on your financial journey. 

Some people claim to know everything about finances, but there is so much information out there that it can be daunting to even begin.  There are “finance experts” in every social media feed selling their information, true or not, to anyone who will pay. So, how can you even know who to listen to and who to ignore? 

A word of caution, be wary of anyone who is trying to sell you any information. Many of the reliable financial influencers are not constantly pushing products or affiliate links to sell. That may be part of the way they earn money, but the majority of their content should be informational and not specifically pushing for an immediate sale. 

Follow these steps below to get a start on understanding areas of your financial life. There are many different parts of your financial life, saving money, making money, spending money, investing money, and paying off debt money. Each of those money areas has unique characteristics to learn about. 

This process is repeatable, so you don’t need to feel pressure to learn about all of them at once. Are you ready? Let’s get started!

What do you want?

Take some time to think about what part of your finances you want to focus on learning about first. Make a list, and write down your thoughts and dreams for your ideal money life. This list is your starting point where you will begin this learning process over and over again, so add anything you like to it! 

A few questions to get your brain working on what should be on your list:

• The one area of my finances that causes me the most stress is?
• Finances in my dream life would look like?
• Is there a “social stigma” for your age that you feel you are missing? 
• What money-related thoughts keep you up late at night?
• When do you feel insecure or behind during money conversations with friends or family?
• Is there a pressing money decision that you need to make soon?

Pick one thing

Review your list and pick the #1, your most important, urgent, or valuable financial area to start with. Circle it, and then save your list for us to repeat once you master this first area!  If one thing doesn’t pop out to you immediately, take a couple of days to mull it over. 

Sometimes getting started can be the most difficult part of any new project. None of these are bad choices on your list. If you are unsure, just pick the first one and get started!

Find reliable resources

Remember the overwhelming and scammy financial “experts” on social media. Don’t start there! If you have a reputable financial resource you trust, then start there. Otherwise, here are some great places to get started learning about your chosen area. 

Get Rich Slowly– Started by an average guy who was struggling with debt and how to manage his money, he used this same process and started to learn about finances. That lead him to creating a blog where he shares what he learns with the world. This is one of the OG early money blogs, but the ideas and information are still very relevant. He is easy to understand and relatable, especially to those who are just starting out.  

Afford Anything– Paula’s tagline of  “you can afford anything, but not everything”, resonates so strongly with me. Finances are about priorities and values. If your finances align with your priorities and values, they will feel natural and easy for you. But, if they contradict your priorities and values, then you will be always fighting and struggling with them. Her niche has morphed into rental property investment, but much of her early information is about finance basics and is applicable to anyone. There are also many great posts that are not focused on real estate investing.   

The Financial Diet– This started as bite-sized financial information aimed at millennials and has morphed into a complete financial foundation and even a personal finance book. Their financial advice is based in the real world, how millennials spend their money today, and is great for those just starting out! There is no lecturing about how buying coffee and avocado toast is the reason you can’t buy a house! They have several different formats, you can listen to their podcasts, watch videos, or read short blogs to learn about a wide range of topics.

Start slow

Slowly find information about the topic you are focused on and don’t let yourself get distracted by other unrelated financial advice. The information is there and will be there when you get to that priority on your list! 

By focusing on just one small area you prevent overwhelm and can fully digest and apply the information you learn to the financial area you identified on your list. 

This will take some time and that is ok. You can’t, (and don’t need to) learn everything about your topic in one night. Bite off small chunks and read a couple of posts each evening for a week or two. Absorb the information and figure out how to incorporate it into the financial priority you picked. 

A word of advice, it can be tempting to get to this point and then stop. Continuing to spend a little time each week to learn is key when you are just starting out.

Learn all you can

Keep looking for new trustworthy resources to learn from. If a financial expert references another financial expert on their site or podcast, take a few minutes to check out their site. Some of my favorite smaller financial minds, I learned about from another blog and realized I resonated with part of their story or the way they explained information. 

Consider alternate formats. If you love podcasts, see if there are some blogs that resonate with you or vice-versa. Youtube, TikTok, and Instagram all have a ton of resources available that you can search for, so don’t be afraid to branch out. 

Repeat!

Go back to your list and pick the next topic or goal that you want to re-start the process on! For your next choice, it may be smart to pick something similar to your first topic. This way you can start adjacent to what you are already learning, rather than starting from scratch. Keep repeating this process and you will be the next Warren Buffet! 

That is it! 6 simple steps. It’s a piece of cake right? 

Well, not so much! Some of these topics are so in-depth, that you could spend years learning about them and still have more to learn. Specifically, investing strategy, tax optimization, and stock market theory are incredibly complex topics. Don’t get overwhelmed by trying to learn too much all at once. Keep learning and tackling difficult topics in bite-size chunks that are applicable to your finances.

Remember, no one ever got anywhere if they didnt begin the journey. The most important part is to begin, start, do one thing. Just starting is the most important part of this process. 

What area of your finances do you need to start learning about? If you want some encouragement and tips, leave them in the comments or over on our Instagram page! I would be happy to help get you started!

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