
Asking questions is insurance that you stay on top of things, and that you don’t get ripped off. The financial world is one that keeps shifting and changing around you. Never be embarrassed to ask questions about anything financial you don’t understand. Last, but certainly not least, trust yourself. And it will help you keep your budget and the scale in check for decades to come. You will learn that you love to cook and are good at it. The kitchen, on the other hand, is your friend. They get you excited, like great milk chocolate or a really good kiss, and you find them tough to resist even when what’s on sale is not something you want or need.
Pay it down by jean chatzky full#
Actually, let’s not limit it to sample sales: Sales, full stop, are the devil. But you would have been even better off if you hadn’t ceded control of some things (like those aforementioned stocks) to your husband.įinally, a couple of things that are a little lighter in nature.
Pay it down by jean chatzky how to#
Only then will you realize how lucky you are to have spent your days reporting on money and finances because you’ll know how to keep your credit up so that you can a) buy a house and b) build a new financial life that works. And then-more than a decade later-you will divorce. Asking won’t always work (in the future, one compassionate boss will advise you to go out and get another offer just so he can justify paying you more to his boss), but if you don’t ask the answer will always be no.īe an equal partner in the finances. Work that, btw, you’re better at. He’s making more because he asked for it when he got hired. The guy who will sit next to you in your next job will be making $5,000-maybe $10,000-more than you for doing the same work.

As long as you don’t need the money near-term for a down payment on a house, or tuition for your kids (you’ll have two), this is the smart money move.Īsk for more money. The markets will come back, and over your life as an investor, they will suffer drops like this every decade or so.


You’re just a few months on the job and the Dow falls 508 points, 22%, in a single day. Then, invest that money in a diversified portfolio of stocks-a low-cost mutual fund will do the trick-and let it be. This is first on the list because it’s non-negotiable. And once you’ve nailed the 10% thing, bump it up to 15%. I know it sounds like a lot, but saving money habitually is actually easy (in the future, when you can automate these things, it’s cake), and by doing this now you’re putting future-you in a much better position. Emotionally and financially, we would have had an easier time. I am not-although I do wish you had learned a few things about your money and career earlier in life. Also, if I say ‘Jean,’ you’ll probably think I’m being stern or that I’m annoyed at you. Or I should probably say Jeannie, because that is what everyone called you when you were coming out of college in 1986 (FYI, your college friends still do).
