Started from the Bottom Now...Wait..I'm Still Here

 A lot of my readers really enjoyed one of my previous blog posts, "Started From the Bottom", where I quoted a famous hip hop song by Drake. The target audience was for young junior enlisted, but was general enough for anyone just starting out in the finance world. But some readers reached out to me and they were concerned about being over 30-years old and having very little flexibility to start improving their finances. They felt like they were at the bottom and couldn't go anywhere. Here are some steps to take if you're at the bottom and nearing the breaking point with your finances.

• Find flexibility. Most people feel like they have no flexibility with their finances. They've reached a point where there is no money left over between paychecks and they may even be adding more to their credit cards each paycheck just to get by. This is the standard negative snowball effect which will ultimately lead to bankruptcy. You must stop this process. A good way to find additional savings is to track everything you spend for 30 days. Inevitably, you will find some savings; whether it is: not going out to eat one night, reducing your cable or phone bill or finding a cheaper alternative to a routine expense. Use the flexibility you find to stop using your credit cards each paycheck.
• Finding this flexibility is the single most important step. A lot of people start to feel "suffocated" about their financial position and they ignore it making it worse. Track everything for 30 days and find the flexibility. I know it's there. Contact me at bjone6@gmail.com anytime and I'll help you find the flexibility (for free, I'm not selling anything, absolutely free). 
• Pay down your credit cards. Some people find themselves having no money after they pay their normal bills and their credit cards. You must pay down your credit card debt quickly, even if it's only adding $5 to your minimum payment. This extra $5 will go straight to the principal and it will start building momentum to paying of the credit cards quicker. You'll start noticing the minimum payments go down and you'll start to open positive options in your financial life.
• Seek assistance. If you're a military member, go see your First Sergeant or your service-specific Family Readiness center. The Family Readiness Centers are an underutilized benefit we all have in the military. They employ or have access to professional money managers who could help you with your finances for free. Financial advice in the civilian world could cost $50-$200 an hour.  If you're financial situation is really bad, they can grant you a no- or low-interest loan to help prevent bankruptcy.

Starting from the bottom can be difficult but there are many ways to get out. If you're staying up late at night because you're worried about your finances then you need to find help. Finding flexibility and paying down your credit cards can be a slow process but it'll be worth it when you can finally say, "Started from the bottom, now I'm here."

Started from The Bottom, Now We’re Here…

Time is the most valuable commodity in our life. For your financial success, starting early is the best decision you can make. Regardless of your age, it’s always a good time to start planning for financial success. For those young 17/18 year olds just entering the military, the future is limitless. Here are some quick steps to start right now (complete in order listed).

·         Establish an emergency savings account. $1K-10K depending on how much bills you have (no more than 6 months’ worth of bills saved)

·         Reduce/eliminate debt. Reducing or eliminating debt is the bed rock of financial success.

·         Max out available tax-sheltered investments. Start an IRA and max it out. If you have additional funds, consider starting your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP). I usually don’t recommend saving all your money in retirement savings because you should have short- and medium-term goals you will need to save for.

·         After the IRA is maxed out, then start saving more in a taxable accounts or max out your TSP. Start investing in everything after you have an emergency savings account established, your debt is reduced/eliminated, and you’ve started saving for retirement. Buy stocks, mutual funds, gold and houses.

I enlisted in the military at 17 with no prior financial knowledge, absolutely no money and only two or three pairs of clothes. In the beginning, there weren’t as many resources available for me to learn from and I paid a lot of fees. But the banking industry has changed and information is available 24/7 and fees have been significantly reduced. After 15 years in the military, and following the steps above, I now have zero debt and have a significant amount of money saved up. I started from the bottom and now I’m here. At my 10-year mark, I crossed over to the “dark side” and became an officer. I hope to retire when I’m 40-years old. I’m not going to lie and say it was easy, but it’s worth it. It’s hard to see your friends spending all their money right away and having nice clothes, nice cars and a big house. But time can be just as cruel and it can be rewarding and after 15 years, I’ve seen time catch up to the big spenders and take everything away.

While blogging, I’ve met a junior enlisted, military-finance blogger, who’s well on his way to becoming financially secure. His investing style is focused on dividends. At the end of his military career and all the reinvested dividends, he will have no problems in the retirement years. Like his blog title states, he’s starting from bottom and he’ll soon be here. Go check out his blog and watch his net worth sky rocket: www.startingfromzeroblog.com/

There’s no reason you can’t do the same. Start today!