Life Tips 101: From Budgeting to Retirement to AI and Bitcoin

This list is not all encompassing but it is a promise from my last post. I am a man of my word. A man of integrity, I won't let you down. Plus, if I did that, you wouldn't come back. I am lucky and thankful you are returning as it is. So, thank you!

Now, this list isn't going to be all encompassing. I am also not going to go into great detail on each one of these. I am giving you the baseline. I didn't even have the baseline so you will be light years ahead of where I was.

It is crazy to think about, isn't it though? That all of the years you are in school you are never taught these things. If you were taught these things and you already know, you are lucky! For those that were not aware, here you go. This list is geared towards those that are just embarking in college or those that are not going to college and are starting their careers.

1. Personal Budgeting and Finances: This is so important. This is about being fiscally responsible. Basically, understanding your month to month dollars, what you can spend, and what you can save. Personally, I like to save a minimum of 30% of everything I earn each month. If I earned $10,000 per month that would mean I save $3,000 per month or $36,000 per year.

2. Insurances: I am still not a pro at this because my wife helps me with all of it. She is a super pro at understanding insurance plans. It is important to understand the insurances you have, what it covers, and if your monthly payments are affordable. Most common insurances are: auto, life, health, dental, eye, and home owners or renters insurance (once that time comes).

3. Credit Cards: I would highly recommend opening up a credit card. The reason being, is that it takes a long time to build up your credit. Having a credit card and showing that you can make payments on time shows responsibility and that you are a worthy credit card holder. The key is to not be irresponsible. Credit cards can be extremely dangerous if used the wrong way. Credit cards (like any other loan) use compounding interest. Meaning that, the interest on the outstanding balance is tacked on each period. For example, say you had an outstanding balance on a credit card that went unpaid and the balance at the time was $100. If you got charged 20% per period that balance would go to $120 in period 1 and then to $144 in period 2. You can imagine how much debt can keep racking up before your eyes (especially when you are dealing with high dollars). Again, a credit card is a great tool when you use it in the right way.

4. Retirement: Saving for retirement is so important. Once you start working at a company the main options that you have are a 401K plan or a Roth IRA (Individual Retirement Account). The main difference between the two is when you are taxed. A 401K is taxed later. A Roth IRA is taxed now, and not later. As my finance professor once told me, "No Free Lunch". You take the hit somewhere it just depends what works for you. There are also Defined Contribution Plans. Better known as pension plans. These are far and few between. These are offered by select employers to encourage you to stay your whole career with the company. These were prominent in the old days. Not so much anymore. But, if you see them, strongly consider it. Then, there are personal IRA's (Individual Retirement Accounts). If you are at a company that doesn't offer a retirement option it would be wise to open your own personal IRA through a service like Fidelity or another major provider like that.

5. Loans and Debt in General: Always, always, always understand your debt obligations. You may have a car loan, you may have a student loan, or you may have a business loan if you are starting your own business. Debt is not bad if used in the right way. In the business world it's called leverage. You always want good leverage. In simple terms, that means if you have debt you want it affordable enough where everything else you are doing is outpacing it. Remember, interest compounds. Don't take out high dollar loans at high interest rates without guidance. It can be detrimental when you get older.

6. Current Events and the Economy: Stay up to date regularly with the world around you. It doesn't take a lot of time. I subscribe to the Morning Brew newsletter. You should too. It takes me 5 minutes to read every morning and I get everything I need to know about what's going on in the world. This will allow you to spark conversation with your peers, your professors, and family. Then, that's how you create learning opportunities.

7. Bitcoin and Blockchain: This one is new but I highly encourage you to understand the basics of this. Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology. Basically, an open platform where transactions happen in a secure way that doesn't involve the use of a bank's clearing house. Bitcoin is a native cryptocurrency that trades on blockchain technology. There are many other cryptocurrencies but Bitcoin is the most common and well known. The key here is understanding. Just have a basic understanding of these things.

8. Artificial Intelligence: This is a new one too. Again, I am not going to go into details here. Nor do I know all the details. The key here is to understand what AI is, what is does, how it can be beneficial, and what the risks are. There are many types of AI. You may see Chat Bots on your mobile banking account, or recognition tools on your social media accounts. That is AI. It will replace many human jobs in the future. That is also important to understand.

9. People Skills and the Intangibles: If I've learned one thing in life it's that it doesn't matter how smart or how technical you are. What matters is how you approach everything you do and how you speak with and treat people. Are you easy to work with? Are you understanding? Do you think critically? Are you a trusted person? Can people count on you? Do people believe you? These are the types of things companies and others will look for in you.

Again, this list is not all encompassing but you have nine more bullets than I started with. I hope these help you in your journeys. My goal here was to give you these as a foundation so that you can move forward. Do research on your own. Talk with your friends. Reach out to your family. Talk to people in the career center. Talk to your boss. Talk to your professors. Take in as much knowledge as you can.

Be Well, Stay Young.