AND FOREMOST, Sir Martin Sorrell looked to older, more-experienced friends and family for advice when he was a teenager. He went on with his life, but he remembered that conversation from when he was just 14 and acted on it when the time came. He prioritized his education. Sorrell then focused on finding a career that was enjoyable, so that working hard didn’t feel like working at all.
Having mentors and advisors is one of the best ways to become a financial grownup. Get advice from anyone who will give it. Ask a lot of questions. Be curious. I’ve done that my whole career, and in many ways Financial Grownup is the manifestation of that philosophy. I set out to bring you, my readers, the best advice from the most successful people in a wide range of businesses. When I look at the list of incredible people who shared their experiences for this book, I can’t help but smile. These folks had a million better things to do, but they took the time to tell their stories and give advice, in most cases simply because they were asked. So ask. Find someone you admire and talk to them about themselves. Most people enjoy sharing their experiences.
Don’t be in a hurry
Use what you learn from their stories to stand on your own to make your own personal plan. That’s the advice from Steve Lacy, who is expertly bringing media conglomerate Meredith Corporation into a new digital age with old-fashioned business smarts.
• CEO, MEREDITH CORPORATION
MY FINANCIAL GROWNUP MOMENT
I realized the need to develop a personal strategy when I was 33 years old and my first child was born.
MY LESSON TO SHARE
The critical path to becoming a “financial grownup” is self-sufficiency and education. No longer can employees – especially the upcoming millennial generation – rely on corporate America for long-term financial security and wellbeing. Each individual must take full advantage of educational opportunities to understand and carefully select their employee benefits and map a near- and longer-term plan for individual financial self-sufficiency.
The near-term plan for millennials would include elimination of student loans, management of their credit, and a savings plan for home ownership.
The longer-term plan would include family financial security around disability and life insurance needs, along with longer-term college and retirement savings plans.
IT’S TIME TO EDUCATE YOURSELF
STEVE LACY’S POINT: It’s on you. You must be responsible for your own financial planning. Your employer will not take care of that. But that same employer may provide a lot of tools and resources, such as tuition re-imbursement, matching your retirement savings in a 401(k) or similar savings vehicle, and subsidized insurance of all kinds.
Later you will hear from Role Model Bob Moritz who heads the U.S. firm of PwC. The auditing and consulting giant is leading the way on a new trend in employee benefits: helping to pay off student debt.
But you must know what you’re entitled to, and proactively make sure you maximize those resources. Take the time to educate yourself. We live in a time when careers are cobbled together, and the path to success is more muddled than ever.
When it comes to investing, beware. What looks like a great investment vehicle may have hidden fees. Role Model Tony Robbins has talked extensively about the damage high fees in company-run 401(k)s have done to countless Americans’ retirement plans. We’ll talk more about that in the investing chapter, but some of the perfectly legal fees are alarming.
Reading the fine print is mandatory. I interviewed countless educated people in the housing bust who signed mortgages that were not what the so-called financial advisor verbally said they were. Then, when the loan became unaffordable, those advisors simply pointed to the contract the consumer had signed.
You are your own best advocate. Step up to the plate.
The Role Models in this book have one thing in common. They’re all high-achieving, inspirational individuals who share a deep desire to help the next generation.
You will learn much from the Role Models in this book including:
How to manage and pay off debt
How to prioritize spending money
How to balance the complicated relationship between friends and finance
The best tools and resources to get started and continue investing
How keeping healthy will pay off financially
The best financial ways to approach where you live
Strategic and savvy ways to manage your career
Family matters and how they impact financial decisions
You will also benefit from a fantastic team of experts, in all of these fields, who have graciously lent their wisdom to this project. They all believe we need to do more to educate young people about finances.
I will also chime in with my own advice at times. I’ve learned a lot in my years as a financial journalist. I’ve also made almost every mistake in the book, and I continue to fumble my way along at times. In some ways this book came out of my own realization that whatever age or life stage we’re at, we all need to pay more attention to our finances.
The title of this book was inspired by my friend and mentor Jack Doran. He was being promoted to a new and exciting job within Thomson Reuters, and it was my turn to move up and take over his old job running the day-to-day operations of the U.S. business video syndication group. I love being a journalist, but I wanted no part of management. I explained that to him. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Bobbi, it’s time to be the grownup.” He went on to say that while I was terrific at reading a teleprompter, and could write a script about almost any business topic in my sleep, I needed to accept the fact that it was time to come to terms with being an adult and the responsibilities that come with it.
You must be responsible for your own financial planning
And from that conversation came this book. I hope you find it inspiring, and that it motivates you to start approaching your financial life from a grownup perspective. Most of all, I hope you make the decisions that are right for you and that you use money to live your dreams.
CHAPTER TWO
YOU WILL NEVER BE A FINANCIAL GROWNUP if you have bad debt. Bad debt is anything that keeps you from being financially free. The most common is credit card debt. Student debt can also weigh down your life.
But there’s also debt that can be used to give you financial freedom. Having a mortgage is often the most realistic way to own a home, which can provide financial stability. Most of us need to borrow to buy a
