10/05/2026
This is a longer one but if you have kids that are college age or older, it's worth the read.
In the interest of helping the next generation — and as a courtesy to my clients — I’ve been offering to meet with their college-age or adult children.
My clients want their kids to develop the right mindset and framework around money early in life, so they can make good financial decisions and hopefully avoid some expensive mistakes along the way.
And as every parent knows, sometimes your kids will listen to the exact same advice a lot better when it comes from someone other than Mom or Dad. Funny how that works.
We could go down the rabbit hole of why kids aren't required to learn more of this stuff in school…but that's a conversation for another day.
Here are a few basic concepts I’ve found tremendously helpful in my own life — and they apply whether you're 22, 42, or 62.
**Emergency Fund (aka the “Oh Sh*t Fund”)**
Try to keep 3–6 months of expenses sitting in cash. Life has a funny way of getting expensive at the worst possible time.
**The 50/30/20 Rule**
A good starting framework is roughly 50% of your income toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward saving, investing, and paying down high-interest consumer debt.
It doesn't have to be exact. The important part is having a plan for where your money goes.
Housing is a major portion of your budget and guess what, your starter home doesn't need to be 2,000sqft.
**Stick to a Budget**
You don't need a 14-tab Excel spreadsheet tracking every cup of coffee you buy, but you should have a pretty good idea of how much money is coming in and where it's going every month, otherwise, it makes it pretty difficult to plan.
If you blow all your eating out money by the end of week two, looks like you're eating hamburger helper at home for the rest of the month.
**Understanding that Building Wealth Is Slow and Boring**
I'm building wealth the same way my clients are. I save a chunk of my income every month and invest it in the same basket of investments many of my clients own.
Save regularly, invest in good stuff, do that over a long period of time and don’t make any stupid, emotional, investing mistakes. And remember, for every stock that hits a grand slam, there are hundreds of others that struck out.
**Pay Yourself First**
Save that 20% — or more if you can — before you start spending.
I can tell you from experience: if your plan is to spend all month and save whatever is left over, there probably isn't going to be much left over.
**Avoid Lifestyle Inflation**
As your income grows, so should your savings.
If you get a $20,000 raise, that doesn't necessarily mean you need $20,000 more lifestyle.
If you're saving 20%, save 20% of that raise ($4,000).
You can always find a nicer car, a bigger house, a better vacation, or another toy to spend money on. That's the easy part.
The boring habits are what build wealth.
There are certainly others but those are some big ones.
And the earlier our kids learn them, the better off they're going to be.
For the parents reading this: one of the best things we can do for the next generation is help them develop good financial habits before they have decades of bad ones to undo.
If you're not currently a client but you're a parent who wants to make sure you're doing everything you can to put both yourself and the next generation in a better financial position, feel free to reach out and schedule a complimentary consultation.
Building wealth is a long game.
The earlier we can help the next generation understand how to play it, the better.
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