I wish I had a financial advisor as a kid

Good morning Dinks.  As you know I have had my share of financial struggles in the past.  I don’t regret my financial mistakes as a teenager and in my 20s because they made me into the responsible adult I am today.  However I do wish that I learned the easy way how to manage my money.  I wish I learned how to manage my money the right way the first time instead of having to learn from my mistakes.  Maybe my parents should have taught me about money or maybe they should have make me an appointment with a financial advisor.

It’s important for kids to learn about good money habits as young as possible so they can form good money values as they grow up and not make the same mistakes I did.  As a teenager and young adult I accepted every credit card offer mailed to me and I overspent to avoid dealing with my feelings.  I never learned how to manage money or how to budget as a child and I ended up over $50,000 in debt in my 20s because of it.

Money lessons I wish I learned as a kid:

How to budget my money.  I wish I did this more as a child.  When I got my weekly allowance I just spent it as soon as possible.  This is a habit that stayed with me as an adult.  I lived pay check to pay check for many years because I didn’t know the value in saving money.  I didn’t know that saving money could help accomplish everything I wanted in life like travelling.  I really love travelling but I only started doing it in my 30s because I couldn’t afford it when I was younger.

I thought having a budget meant I spent the money I had and then waited for my next pay check.  I didn’t know I had to live within my means and make room for saving.  If I did I wouldn’t have had to live with the stress of living pay check to pay check.  If I learned how to budget as a kid my life as an adult would have been a lot easier.

Set financial goals and work towards them.  I had absolutely no financial goals in my 20s expect to make it to my next pay check.  I paid my bills (not always in full), put food in my belly and bought pretty things for my apartment.  That was about all the goals I had.  As a child I wish I sat down and set financial goals such as saving for college.  If I did my life in college probably would have been a lot easier.  I could have worked less and I probably would have had better grades.

The importance of saving.  Lots of banks offer kids accounts with no fees.  This allows them to make deposits and save money from their birthday gifts, their allowance or a part time job.  If I had this as a kid maybe I would have learned to save instead of spending all my money on CDs and clothes.  Don’t laugh but I was really addicted to Columbia House CD club when I was younger.  Remember that mail order music service?

Photo by Good N Crazy

Kristina Tahnyak

Tahnya is a Certified Financial Planner and former Investment Advisor turned marketing and communications professional She holds a degree from Concordia University, is debt free and currently works in the field of digital marketing.