This one is from Andi.
From...
San Diego!
Do you want to read your own question?
I have a very dear friend who has a daughter named Kiera.
Kiera is about to graduate from high school.
So I was wondering if you fellas could provide her some financial advice and some for other
graduates as they are about to embark on the rest of their lives?
What would you tell - high school, you get them real early on.
There's so much that someone graduating from high school I think needs to learn
in real simple terms.
Budgeting is one.
Looking at credit and debt and what really that means.
FICO scores.
Why is that important, when it's not important?
Or what you should do to make sure that you don't fall into certain traps that maybe a
lot of people fell into that didn't have just proper personal finance information?
Of course, the power of compounding is always really important too, to look at if they save
$10 a month and then they increase that to $20, $30, $50, $100 a month, and they start
at 18 years of age.
What could that grow to?
That's really powerful things.
So I think I would just start real you know at the basic level in our world.
But I would say that's fairly advanced in them and in the real world where you look
at people in their 50s and 60s that still don't understand the concept of budgeting
or understanding 'hey, spend a little bit less than what you make or pay yourself first'
or you know things like that.
I think that's where I would go in maybe just to have a simple type conversation in saying
here's the ABCs of what you should be taking a look at.
My sister for instance when she got her first job, she's a registered nurse in Minneapolis,
and I ran a spreadsheet because we did this in some training and I've seen it in books
now with Ric Edelman and things like that - like Jack and Jill, if they started saving
$1,000 a year and they started at 18, but then Bill and Susan started at 30 and then
so-and-so started at 50 to get to a certain dollar figure, how much more that each couple
would have to save?
So I kind of went through that example with her and they said have you maxed out
a Roth IRA of...
I forget the contribution limits back then, by the time you can save for 20 years and
you would be a millionaire by the time you're 60.
So that motivated her.
So then she's like 'oh I am done with my plan because you told me all I had to do is save
this for 20 years.'
And I was like 'No don't stop'!
And I think I agree with everything you said and I'm going to add maybe a couple
of practical things.
I think a lot of high schoolers and college age kids they don't really quite understand
what credit is and how it works and I would say this: if you can't pay cash for something,
then don't do it.
If you want to use a credit card to build your credit and FICO score, that's OK.
But just make sure you can pay off that credit card when the bill comes each month because
that's where people get into trouble.
So that'd be one thing.
The second thing I would say is we know that about half of all Americans can't even afford
a $500 car repair.
So work towards getting $500 to $1,000 emergency funds as kind of a starting point.
You want to add to it as time goes.
But be responsible with credit.
Have a have an emergency fund and then start investing to the extent that you can because
of the compounding of money - and it is pretty amazing.
And I think I think a good lesson for young people is to think about whatever you're making.
Try to get it up to - not immediately, but over time, get up to 10% of your salary going
into savings and then 15% and then......
Net or gross?
Gross.
Then 15% and then even 20%.
20% would be sort of the gold standard.
If you're making $50,000...
Sabatier says 75%.
If you can get started early enough to be able to save 75%, yeah, you'll be a
millionaire by 40.
But it's like when you said that if you can't afford it in cash don't put it
on your credit card.
I remember my dad saying that to me and I was like 'Dad if I had the cash I wouldn’t
use the credit card.
This is stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life.'
And then now you kind of get a little bit older, you're like, 'yeah I guess it some
made sense.'
I think that it's why people like Dave Ramsey do well because so many young people get in
trouble with credit.
Dave Ramsey does well because he sells very high commissionable products.
And he preys on the people.
I got one more question.
Would you suggest somebody that is just getting out of high school, if they don't already
have one, should they open a Roth IRA, like, right away?
If they've got earned income?
Yes, I would say yeah.
But again it's qualifying, because they may need the funds for college right?
So it's probably not for everybody.
But even if you just put $10 into it right?
$10 per paycheck.
You always have access to the money so it doesn't hurt. You do, on a contribution.
So it wouldn't blow you up.
So if you put in X amount into a Roth IRA and then let's say to two years later you
need the money.
That's probably not the best place to go but if you needed it you got it.
By the way, so you can pull out the contribution.
You just can't pull at the earnings and growth.
If you're putting $10 there's not gonna be a ton of growth.
So Kiera should basically watch out for her future self.
Yeah, I would take a picture and put like a wig on it.
Put some wrinkles on her face.
There are programs that you can age yourself, just pretend you're 65 and say I'm ready to
retire and do you do a picture where you're really sad and broke.
And then a happy one where you're younger you look quite happy.
You're 35 and you're living in a mansion.
Thank you guys for such wonderful advice.