​3 Pieces of Financial Advice for Beginners
By JJ      

I have always been good with my money.

I’m not trying to brag, it’s just the truth.

While some people get a high off of shopping, I get my kicks watching my investment accounts grow.

I’ve always had an interest in personal finance however, it’s only been over the last year and a half that I have completely buried myself in financial books, podcasts and blog posts trying to absorb as much financial advice as possible.

Last year I had my first child, my little boy!

While parenting is a 24/7 job the first 6 months mainly involve holding a baby, changing a baby and feeding a baby. There is a lot of mental downtime.

This gives you hours to listen to podcasts of your choice. I will say, reading a book or anything that involves physical holding something, in addition to your baby, is a bit more challenging. Audio learning all the way.
 
Anyways, I want to thank my maternity leave for giving me the opportunity, and the time, to really dig into the topic of personal finance and educate myself.

Like I said, I thought I was good with money. I thought I was doing all of the right things. I started saving early, I started investing in mutual funds early with my parents financial advisor.

When there was the odd conversation about money with my friends I felt like I had it more together then they did because I had a fancy financial advisor. I thought I was super on tops of things because I met with him, in person, annually.

Oh, so naive!

Financial literacy is so important

You don't know what you don't know 

Financial literacy is empowering.

If you instantly want to feel better about your financial situation then I suggest you educate yourself on the topic.

No, a financial education will not change your bank account balance or reduce your debt burden overnight but, it can act as a starting point.

You need to understand what you are doing before you can do it. You need to know what a budget is and the steps for creating one before you can start budgeting.

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3 Pieces of Financial Advice for Beginners - The Financial Graduate