Simple Financial Advice for New Grads

One of my favorite finance writers, Morgan Housel, asked a number of folks for simple financial advice for new grads. But there’s one catch — give the advice in five words.

Morgan was kind enough to include me in his group. While most of the participants went with broad lessons, my submission focused on the practical. My five words were, “Don’t carry credit card debt.”

I do believe that. It’s amazing how much trouble young people get in with their credit cards. For people who have never had credit trouble, it’s hard to imagine what a pain it’s been for some people. Plus, a lousy credit history can follow you for years.

Every day, there are lots of people who buy $200 pizzas. Of course, the pizzas didn’t start out at that price.

Here are a few submissions that I liked:

Kanyi Maqubela, Collaborative Fund: Live simply. Fees add up.

Ben Carlson, A Wealth of Common Sense: Budget. Save. But enjoy yourself.

Josh Brown, Reformed Broker: Buy every month, never stop.

Bob Seawright, Madison Avenue Securities: Save. A lot. Start immediately.

Carl Richards is always brilliant:

Check out Morgan’s column.

Posted by Eddy Elfenbein on June 22nd, 2016 at 8:13 pm

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