Madison MoneySports - Personal Finance Thread

[WRXtranceformed]

Also, what are some things a normal recent grad doesn't think to do financially but should? What's something you wish you did when you graduated? Let's avoid "Live in a hut, spend no money, eat lentils." please. I like my income, but I'd really like to supplement is somehow, some way.

You probably won't take this advice, and most people who are older than you don't take this advice either, but I wish I had talked to a financial advisor much sooner than I did. It does not matter if you are wealthy, if you are broke or what stage of saving you are at. A lot of people think they are savvy when it comes to investing, but 95% of them are not. I was one of those people, and I did okay...I always saved into traditional investment vehicles. It was really eye opening when I finally sat down with professionals and realized that not only was I not saving nearly enough, I wasn't saving in the right ways to maximize my investment growth, diversify to mitigate risk and avoid the inevitable sting of inflation, rising cost of living and the tax implications when I retire.

All of this stuff sounds really big and heavy but it's really, really important dude. If you don't want to work forever, these are things that everyone should have a professional who does this stuff for a living at least give them a second opinion on. It's up to you whether you want to use their services. Do you know what my brother just texted me the other day? The median retirement savings for ages 32-37 is $480. $480. The median retirement savings for ages 56-61 is $17,000. You don't have to make a ton of money to be able to retire comfortably, clearly the numbers support the fact that people generally need help with their finances.

As far as banks it's really personal preference. I've maintained a $5 balance PenFed account for years just in case their rates are better than another banks when I go to borrow money, but to date they haven't been. BoA's personal banking is incredible. We have no ATM fees anywhere for any ATM, waived wire transfer fees, discounts on interest rates for loans, no fee trades if you go that route, tons more perks that I would have to look up. They also have interactive ATMs where you live video chat with a teller 24/7 down here in case it's after bank hours and you need to do something more complicated than pulling $20s out of a machine. Good banking app, good online interface that is constantly improving. But yeah you can find whatever bank is willing to work with you the best at your stage in life and go for it, it really isn't going to make much of a difference