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<\/p>\nJust hitting adulthood and figuring out the financial realities that await you? Or following through on a pandemic pledge to reboot the ones you already have? Now is as a good a time as any to sort them out, and the good news is that we\u2019re here to help.<\/p>\n
We know, your financial life often feels way more complicated than it ought to be. Finding the mental and budgetary space to start saving money when, for example, you\u2019re staring down a decent chunk of student debt can be overwhelming. Or maybe you\u2019ve landed a job with a decent salary, but you aren\u2019t sure how to optimize your finances or what to prioritize.<\/p>\n
Everyone\u2019s situation is different, but there are certain fundamentals that apply to all of us. So we picked 20 truly essential money lessons, paired with simple tasks for you to take on. Sign up for the 20-Day Money Challenge and we\u2019ll send them to you, day by day, in free bite-size pieces. We\u2019ve got a bit of banking, some investing, a helping of student loan and other debt management \u2014 and credit, so you can borrow with confidence if you need to. (Note that you can sign up for the challenge whenever you like.) <\/p>\n
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Sorting out your financial life can feel overwhelming. We\u2019re here to help you get started with 20 tasks you can tackle, one day at a time.<\/p>\n
Why now? If you\u2019re relatively new to adulthood or the working world, the sooner you have the basics covered the better you\u2019ll feel. We\u2019ve been there \u2014 and we\u2019ve tested all 20 days of this advice personally in our decade-plus of writing about money for The New York Times.<\/p>\n
We also want to make a few promises \u2014 and some suggestions \u2014 to get started.<\/p>\n
1. No shame, no blame.<\/strong> Don\u2019t understand how to invest? There are millions more like you. Got debt? So do two-thirds of all college graduates. If you\u2019re here, you\u2019re already ahead of the game.<\/p>\n 2. We\u2019ll keep it brief.<\/strong> Just two minutes of reading each day, with a reasonably quick task that you can tackle once you\u2019re done. Or not! There\u2019s nothing wrong with reading these dispatches and saving them for some grand fiscal wellness day in the future when you\u2019ll tick dozens of to-dos off your list \u2014 or putting aside some of the ones that don\u2019t yet apply, but will down the line.<\/p>\n 3. Jargon is the enemy.<\/strong> We\u2019re trying to speak in plain English here, the way we\u2019d address a sibling or the work friends who often (quite often, actually) approach us to express some or another deep confusion.<\/p>\n 4. Sharing is caring.<\/strong> Money clubs, like book clubs, are a thing. Why not form an ad hoc group of friends or co-workers to tackle these tasks \u2014 or others that you dream up \u2014 together? And by all means, send this along to anyone you know who could use some help getting their financial lives more organized. (Parents of adult children, we\u2019re talking to you.)<\/p>\n