In my Professional Sisterhood post last week, I mentioned that the theme for Citi’sInternational Women’s Day celebration this year was “Connecting Women, Inspiring Change, Enabling Progress.” With the overarching theme of progress in mind, in that post, I shared 15 insider tips for increasing self-confidence and building connections curated from interviews with a group of Step Up board members and national staff and a similarly themed Connectgroup discussion thread.
Continuing with this theme, I invited members of Citi’s Connect group to share what financial advice they would give to their younger selves. This generated a rich discussion thread, which I distilled into these 15 tips for building your financial confidence and control:
- Take responsibility for your own financial security, whether you’re single or in a relationship.
- Learn as much as you can about money, especially investing, as early as possible.
- Track expenses and cash flow carefully, even when times are flush.
- Practice financial self-control: don’t blur the line between needs and wants.
- Have a “Oh Sh**” fund for unanticipated expenses.
- Start saving for retirement early and save more as you earn more.
- Keep a lid on debt: pay off your credit card balance each month.
- Use online bill pay services to reduce missed payments and eliminate late fees.
- Negotiate, negotiate, negotiate when it comes to salary and compensation.
- Learn from your financial mistakes.
- Diversify your investments.
- Help the children in your life to develop healthy money habits.
- Prepare for the unexpected: have a plan B (and C and D).
- Work with a qualified financial professional to help put together and stick to your plan.
- Don't let being short on time overshadow your long-term financial readiness.
In the spirit of paying it forward, what financial lesson would you give to your younger self?
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