What’s the first thing you recommend to do?

Question

Hello! My name is Kaiya I have recently garnered an interest in everything financially freedom, money & investing. However, there are so many directions to go that I am stuck on know which one would be best for me.

(A little background)

I am a 19 year old & still live with my parents. I have a fresh, clean slate to start on. No bills, No car note, No debt…etc. What are some of the FIRST things you guys recommend I start focusing on in order to begin working my way towards financial freedom? What should I learn about first at this stage in my life? I want to take advantage of the position I am in now, because I know it will not last forever with no bills, living with parents etc…

Andrew C. · Answer

excellent question. A few suggestions...

1) start with ensuring your personal financial house is in order. Just the basic stuff. Get a job, if you don't have one. If you do have one, look at what the earnings path is for it. Do well at your job. As you do, take the opportunity to help others. Be Kind, Be Helpful. It comes back to you in ways you can't imagine, and it's also just a good way to live.

2) (apologies - no idea where you are on financial literacy). Get a checking act, a savings act, and a CC. Use the CC occasionally, but pay it off 100% every month.

3) budget. YNAB is my personal fav, but whatev'z. ensure that your budget includes setting up a buffer (emergency) savings act for yourself. This is less urgent while you're living at home and hence have kinda no expenses..but it's a good habit to get into. You make better decisions if you aren't living paycheck to paycheck.

4) understand what adult financial life looks like. If your parents are reasonably good at managing their money, ask them if you can see what their budget looks like, what the spend on all the various bills / month, etc.

5) if your job comes with a retirement act (401K or something), and especially if there's an employer match, contribute to it.

6) look around, be a sponge, and decide how you'd like to invest in something that will grow over the long haul. might be RE (you're here, after all), might not be. but pick something and try it out. Don't pick something that's super high risk, high-return (crypto, for ex). there's not enough learning potential from that IMO and you don't have enough context to be making the investment on an informed basis.

Kaiya Sherriff · Answer

Thank you for taking time to respond. House Hacking is definitely a goal of mine in the future because I’ve heard how its a great way for people to step foot into real estate investing. Although I have just began learning the basics of what it is, I hope to start saving as much as possible when I find a job!

Sanderson Mittnacht · Answer

@Kaiya Sherriff I always tell my team "Become a sponge." Learn and absorb as much information as you can. Surround yourself with other, like-minded individuals who have proven success (and nice work; you're already doing that here!).

The saying "You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with" is absolutely accurate. Want to be financially free, spend time with financially free individuals.

Read as much as you can, go to as many networking groups, find a mentor(s), and most importantly, TAKE ACTION.

As @Michael K Gallagher said, the W2 route with scalable income is the most risk-averse route that can help you get there, and also the route most of us take. The choice is yours and up to your risk tolerance.

Joshua Janus · Answer

Is a house hack a goal of yours in the future? Study the requirements for an FHA loan like a book and make sure to set yourself up for success. Examples would be building up your credit, getting the most recent tax returns for the last 2 years in the same field, building up capital for the down payment, closing costs and 6 months in reserves so you can use as much of the rental income from the other units as your own income when you getting qualified. These are some barriers I had to make sure to be able to climb over.  Let me know what questions you have.

Mordy Chaimovitz · Answer

Good for you! As mentioned earlier

1. Create a budget that includes:

-money you set aside for good times

- money you set aside for savings.

ynab app (stands for You Need A Budget) helps you with this practically

author and radio show host Dave Ramsey will give you the mindset. look him up online.

2  START  BUILDING GOOD CREDIT by getting a credit card and charging it once a month and paying off the full balance every month.

You will need good credit If you want to invest in RE

3 read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad

4 learn from people you know

5 NETWORK  . And guess what! You already started networking by posting on BP. Continue to make bold steps to reach out and connect to people. Relationships you make in business can help you advance your knowledge and opportunities,  as well as turn into some great real life relationships that will enhance your life and the life of your new friends as well

6 Embrace your struggles and challenges.  They are a symbol of your progress.

Dan Sheeks · Answer

Hey @Kaiya Sherriff! Great to see posting here as well as in the SheeksFreaks community! :-)

If you ever want to chat/Zoom about some of your questions, just let me know!

Dan

Ben Morand · Answer

@Kaiya Sherriff Hey Kaiya! I'm so glad to hear that you've caught the FI bug! I also got into Real Estate around your age and 3 years later, I am finally beginning to see my dreams come to light! 3 things that I've learned during my journey are:

1) BE AWARE of analysis paralysis!!! This is the dream killer for 99% of aspiring real estate professionals! Learn just enough to start... then START! If you get stuck with the mentality that you need to know everything before getting started, you will NEVER get started.

2) Meet as many people as you can. You NEVER know who will be your biggest connection, so its important to meet and keep up with every genuine person you find in the industry. For example, about 3 years ago, I connected with someone else my age on BP, back when we were both 19 and just getting started. Fast forward 3 years and he has become HUGE in the short-term rental space and is mentoring me through my journey as well! The saying "it's about who you know, not what you know" could not be more true.

3) Take risks! The amazing thing about being our age is that we are still so young!! It's okay to take risks and fail at our age, so the risk/reward ratio for us is almost all the way towards the reward side. Don't be afraid to fail and just learn from your mistakes!

4) Pick a strategy, read a couple books, and stick with it! Switching up strategies caused me to not REALLY get started for about 2 years. It's important to be tunnel visioned and not let any shiny new strategies get to our head.

Good luck with everything and shoot me a PM if you have any questions! :D

Kaiya Sherriff · Answer

Thank you Dan! It’s good to see you as well! It would be awesome if I could chat with you about a few question!!

Justin Windham · Answer

@Kaiya Sherriff

Welcome to the BP!

This is a great forum with very knowledgeable members that will help to guide you in the right direction.

There are a few self-contained guides that you can access here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/guides

I really like the alerts feature that can quickly guide you to current topics that might interest you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/alerts

Steven Caldwell · Answer

best way for me starting out was reading as many books as i could find on the topics i was going towards. Financial freedom was my goal too so i went towards the stock market/ trading and real estate. Start saving your pennies now cuz im sure youve seen nothing is cheap at the moment so the more cash on hand when youre ready to go after something the better

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