Читать книгу How to Be a Financial Grownup - Bobbi Rebell - Страница 15

STEVE LACY

• 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.